Jack Freestone’s defeat in the quarterfinals of the pipe masters event in Hawaii, has led Australian Surfer Julian Wilson to grab the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games spot. It was on Thursday, Julian Wilson got eliminated in the last 16, but now with his contender’s defeat, Wilson is all set to join another talented surfer Owen Wright from team Australia for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
Yoga Dora and John Florence from the USA defeated Julian Wilson and Soli Bailey in the recently concluded pipe master games at Ohio. Another teammate Freestone triumphed Rhodie Christie from New Zealand to reach the quarterfinals. However, Freestone couldn’t sustain longer in the game, where star surfer Kelly Slater from the United States shook his Olympic dream by defeating him in the last eight and also grabbing the prestigious Triple Crown of Surfing.
Also Read: Shinzo Abe Unveils Tokyo 2020 National Stadium
Brazils Italo Ferreira made a strong comeback by defeating Slater in the semifinals with 14.77 to 2.57 points, however, he couldn’t claim his spot into the 2020 Olympic games. Slaters defeat made a way for Florence to lead the US Men Olympic Surfer team along with Kolohe Andino in the 2020 Summer Olympics. (Related Content: NBC Sports Crosses $1B Sales for Tokyo Olympics)
Andino got defeated to France’s Michel Bourez in the last 16 spots, thereby smashing his hopes of becoming the 2019 World Champion. Ferreira was honored with the title at Ohau, after defeating his countrymen Gabriel Medina with 15.56 to 12.94 points. Ferreira complimented his victory by saying “It was my dream. I have trained all my life for this. I can’t believe it. Thank you, God.”
The duo Ferreira and Medina will represent Brazil at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games after finishing top spot in the World Surfers ranking.
Leave a Reply