Intense, High Profile Battles Determine First Eliminations for Surfing in Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Filipe Toledo takes highest heat, Jack Robinson finds near perfection, and Johanne Defay bounces back 

Japan’s Shino Matsuda shines in long overdue Olympic debut

Youngest-ever Olympic surfer Siqi Yang claims historic first heat win for China

Teahupo’o, French Polynesia – July 28, 2024

The pressure went up and emotions rose on the second day of surfing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. First eliminations saw Round 2 for both men and women completed with 16 surfers bowing out of the event. The three-to-five foot waves on offer were occasionally topped by bigger sets, all offset by a wild mix of wind that showed various shades of strength.

ISA U/16 World Junior Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA) claimed the highest heat total of the day, and his Teahupo’o career, to defeat Billy Stairmand (NZL). In the final heat of the day the 29-year-old father of two clicked into gear, casually driving through barrels to earn a 9.67 and 7.33 for a 17.00 heat total. The two-time WSL World Champion entered the lineup with a solid game plan and it paid off.

“That was the strategy since I woke up this morning,” Toledo said. “Give him a little bit of hassle at the start, get that inside position and not leave that inside position until I’ve got a good score. It cost me in the first round. That was a mistake that I did, and I didn’t want to do that again. I ended up getting the 7 and then Billy [Stairmand] backed it up with the 8 and I was like, oh man, here we go. And then, when I had priority, I was like ok, I’m not leaving the lineup until I get a bomb and that bomb came my way, and yeah, just blessed to get that barrel and the win.”

A classic west bowl Teahupo’o barrel that included a foamball ride saw Jack Robinson (AUS) post the highest single wave score of the event so far, a 9.87. It took 17 minutes, for the 26-year-old Western Australian to catch that wave, the first of his Round 2 heat against two-time Pan American Games Gold Medalist Lucca Mesinas (PER), after the two intensely jockeyed up and down the reef for positioning.

“It started on the boat and then he tried to fight a lot on the way, but it’s part of this, you know,” Robinson said. “It takes years and years of experience to stay in your moment and focus on you in that situation. [That wave] was so beautiful. It was a special afternoon just looking back and seeing everybody, seeing the sun shining, seeing the waves. I was just really happy to be out there.”

Tough draws see early exits for multiple medal hopefuls

Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) faced 2015 ISA U/18 World Junior Champion Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) in the first elimination heat for the men. The 26-year-old Japanese was able to take a convincing victory over his long-time friend and rival. The two second-time Olympians shared their first-ever waves at Teahupo’o together when they were 12-years-old and today had to battle against each other on the largest platform of their careers.

“I woke up today and saw that I had one of the toughest draws of the whole contest,” Igarashi said. “It got my heart racing. I thought, ‘I definitely don’t want to lose out here in the first round of the Olympics.’”

Veteran competitor Johanne Defay (FRA) had similar feelings when she learned her fate after a rough Round 1 heat that began with her head hitting the reef.

“The fall, the stitches, the concussion tests and not really having the chance to get a good wave yesterday was very frustrating,” Defay said. “And I got back home and they were like, ‘Oh you go up against Molly [Picklum] tomorrow morning,’ and I was like, ‘Ahhh!’”

Defay, the 30-year-old multiple-time ISA World Surfing Games Medalist, topped the day’s scores for the women. A 7.83 was the high point of the day, as was her 11.83 two-wave heat total that delivered victory over Australia’s medal hopeful, Molly Picklum. Her road forward doesn’t get any easier however as she’ll next face her teammate, Tahitian Vahine Fierro, in Round 3.

The loudest cheers of the day came as Teahupo’o local Kauli Vaast (FRA) stayed slightly ahead of Matthew McGillivray (RSA) across two exchanges, before the 22-year-old Tahitian locked into rhythm and broke away for victory with a 14.03 heat total.

2024 ISA World Surfing Games Silver Medalist Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) closed out the most competitive match-up of the day with a heat total of 14.60 and the win over Lima 2019 Pan American Games Bronze Medalist Bryan Perez (ESA). After uncharacteristic falls in Round 1, the 30-year-old Moroccan rebounded in a strong way today, pushed by the performance of the Salvadoran.

“I knew it, I said to Aziz [Bouchgua], ‘Watch out for Bryan, he’s a good barrel rider,’ and he proved it,” Boukhiam said. “Even his last wave, it was right in my face, so it was like, ‘Ahhh!’ It was pretty good. I was stoked because we got opportunities. We went back-to-back, boom-boom-boom. It was a good battle and I tried my best and I’m happy to make it.”

Japan’s Shino Matsuda shines in long overdue Olympic debut

Across two heats, Japan’s Shino Matsuda has shown herself as a potential medal contender. An 8.33 in Round 1 was followed by one of the highest single wave scores for the women today, a 7.67. One of the first surfers to qualify for Paris 2024, Matsuda has spent much of the past year fine-tuning her craft in the waves of Teahupo’o. The 21-year-old connected with local coach and Teahupo’o specialist Tereva David during the first ISA Athlete Training Camp in July 2023 and has worked closely with him ever since.

Matsuda’s sole focus for much of the past three years has been on the Olympic Games. After provisionally qualifying for Tokyo 2020 in 2019, and then being outranked by her teammates in the final Olympic qualifier, the 2021 ISA World Surfing Games, Matusda was determined to make her Olympic debut in Paris 2024.

“It’s amazing to be here,” Matsuda said. “I missed Tokyo and I was pretty disappointed after the missed spot, but now I’m here and competing in the Olympics, it’s amazing. Kanoa [Igarashi] has been sharing his experience from the last Olympics with us and the team vibe is so good.”

Youngest-ever Olympic surfer Siqi Yang claims historic first heat win for China

History was made in the first heat of the day when China’s Siqi Yang won her Round 2 heat over four-time WSL South American Junior Champion Sol Aguirre (PER). In tough conditions, Yang quickly recognized the limited potential for barrels and made an adjustment to turns, utilizing her strong backhand to take the first ever heat win for her nation in Surfing at the Olympic Games.

The youngest-ever surfer to compete in the Olympics at 15-years-old, Yang grew up hundreds of miles from the coast in rural China and only saw the ocean for the first time when she was 9. By 10 she was competing in her first ISA World Junior Championship, and just five years later she is an Olympian. Due to visa issues, Yang was unable to surf in Tahiti prior to the Olympic training sessions, but she has been fearless and is adapting quickly with the eyes of the world on her.

“This is my first time coming here,” Yang said. “I’m so happy. Surfing here is so good. So clean, big waves, big barrels, which I like. I have been watching videos of the top surfers surfing here, so I’ve been very excited to surf here. It’s easy to catch the wave and enter the barrel, it’s much more difficult to exit it.”

“My hometown is inland,” Yang continued. “There’s only mountains, no sea, so surfing is quite strange to people there. I think [this heat win] will bring more publicity for surfing at home, which will give athletes like me more opportunities to surf, especially outside of China.”

One of Yang’s biggest fans is her favorite surfer, Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist Kanoa Igarashi (JPN). “She’s been so inspirational for me,” Igarashi said. “She was charging so hard in the free surfs. I feel like, as Asians in surfing, there’s not many of us, so whenever we can support each other, we support each other as much as possible. She’s definitely one that I would love to keep cheering for the rest of her career.”

ISA President, Fernando Aguerre said:

“First day was amazing, this was even more so… Teahupo’o’s ever changing personality was in display all day… Warmth between teams and athletes, has always been part of the DNA of the ISA World Championships, and it was totally present today as well… See you mañana!!!”

The next call to determine when competition will run will take place on July 29 at 6:15 a.m. TAHT.

Stay tuned to isasurf.org for Paris 2024 results, schedule updates, content, and information.