TEAHUPO'O, Tahiti, French Polynesia (Tuesday, August 15, 2023) - Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) has provisionally qualified through the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) to represent his country at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Igarashi is guaranteed to finish ahead of his closest rivals on the WSL Rankings, earning his provisional qualification for the upcoming Olympic Games. This will be the 25-year-old's second Olympic appearance, having won Silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Igarashi, who grew up in Huntington Beach, CA, has been surfing since the age of three after his parents immigrated to the USA from Japan to give their son the best chance at becoming a pro surfer. He became a top-ranked amateur and qualified for the Championship Tour (CT) in 2015. At 18, he was the youngest rookie on the 2016 Tour and collected more Round One wins than any surfer. Igarashi, who has battled to stay on the CT, finished his 2022 season in the top five of the WSL Rankings, earning him a place in the Rip Curl Finals, where he finished fifth. With his recent performance at the [insert event name], Igarashi is currently ranked No. 13 in the world. Igarashi, who holds dual citizenship, will proudly represent Japan in the Olympics for a second time, having won the Silver Medal in Tokyo.
Surfing will return to the Olympic Games after making its 2020 Olympic debut in Tokyo. The 2024 Olympics will be held on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti at Teahupo'o, the iconic wave known for massive barrels, heavy drops, and a shallow reef. This will be familiar to the WSL surfers as it is the featured stop on the WSL CT and the next stop on the 2023 CT season.
The WSL CT, the highest level of competitive surfing that crowns the World Champions, is surfing's tier-one qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games. WSL will provisionally qualify the first ten men and eight women for Paris 2024. Learn more about Surfing's Olympic Qualification process.
Watch other qualification hopefuls at the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro from August 11 - 20, 2023. Once called on, the competitions will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, the WSL's YouTube Channel, and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL's broadcast partners here.