John John Florence, Carissa Moore Qualify for Team USA at Paris 2024 Olympics

As the WSL 2023 season nears its dénouement, Olympic qualifiers are trickling in.

And the latest to join those provisionally qualified for Paris 2024, which will be held at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, are Team USA representatives John John Florence and Carissa Moore.

The two Hawaiians clinched their slots during opening day of the Tahiti Pro.

About qualification, JJF said:

“It feels super good. To have a second chance at the Olympics again, especially coming back here to Tahiti, I’m really excited about that.”

Florence was in surfing’s inaugural appearance in the Olympics back in Tokyo 2020, but he didn’t get a major result or medal – he placed ninth during that bout.

Here’s what Carissa had to say about qualifying:

“Oh my gosh. I just found out that I provisionally qualified for the Olympics 2024, here in Tahiti. I couldn’t be more stoked. I didn’t win my heat, but this feels like a little win.”

Carissa, on the other hand, won Gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

For a refresher, here’s the hierarchy on how surfers qualify for the Olympics:

1. 2023 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour: First 10 eligible men and first 8 eligible women.

2. 2023 ISA World Surfing Games: 4 men and 4 women selected based on their continent. Top finishing eligible surfer of each gender from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

3. 2023 Pan American Games: First eligible man and first eligible woman in the surfing competitions.

4. 2024 ISA World Surfing Games: First 5 eligible men and first 7 eligible women.

5. 2024 ISA World Surfing Games: The winning teams by gender, will qualify 1 place for their respective country/NOC, regardless of the 2-per country quota limit.

6. 2022 ISA World Surfing Games: The winning teams by gender, will qualify 1 place for their respective country/NOC, regardless of the 2-per country quota limit.

7. Host nation slot: One man and one woman slot will be guaranteed for the host nation of France, unless already filled through the above hierarchies. Should athletes from France qualify regularly, their slots will be reallocated to the highest ranked eligible surfers from the 2024 World Surfing Games.

8. Universality Place: For the first time, one place per gender will be made available to eligible NOCs. Special consideration will be given to the nature of the wave in Teahupoo in terms of the eligibility criteria for these places. Should there deemed to be no qualified surfers in this category, these slots will be reallocated to the highest ranked eligible surfers from the 2024 World Surfing Games The complete process and selection criteria for these places will be communicated by the IOC at a later date.

Stay tuned for more qualifiers to come.

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