The sport may be new to the Olympics, but it was the seasoned veterans who won gold in surfing at the TokyoOlympics. Carissa Moore of the U.S. and Italo Ferreira of Brazil became the first Olympic surfing champions.
The relatively modest beach break conditions were so unlike the world class waves she’s used to as a veteran of the professional tour and at home in Hawaii. By the end, the methodical and well-loved surfer finally got in rhythm with the ocean in time to deliver the kind of standout performance that has defined her career.
Calling it “divine intervention,” the 17th-ranked Buitendag won silver after pulling off upset after upset over the three-day competition, starring in some of the contest’s biggest moments in her path to the Olympic podium.“I felt like this was the perfect opportunity for closure,” the 27-year-old Buitendag said. “I’m ready for the next season of my life.”
When the clock ran out in the men’s final, Ferreira turned to the ocean, collapsed his hands together in a prayer and wept, nearly knocked over by the waves crashing onto shore as he thanked God for a dominate showing throughout the inaugural contest. He won his final handily against Kanoa Igarashi of Japan despite crashing through an air to land on a broken board. The incident required a quick board switch on shore near the beginning of the heat, which didn’t seem to rattle the man who had so little growing up that he first learned to surf on a cooler.
“I broke my good board on my first wave. That board gives me good speed, the other one is more slow,” the 27-year-old Ferreira said. “It’s super hard out there, but I knew that there was a lot of opportunities around.”Both Moore and Ferreira will be back on the World Surf League tour next month, with stops in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Teahupo’o, Tahiti. The famous French Polynesia reef break also happens to be the site of the 2024 Olympic surfing contest.
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