Photo: Kelly Cestari/WSL
The International Surfing Association has confirmed its list of WSL CT automatic nominations for the 2019 World Surfing Games, one step closer for the surfers who will eventually become the first 20 to compete in the Olympic Games. Accepting their nomination and competing is a mandatory step in retaining eligibility for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, barring injury or illness, the organization said Monday.
To be clear, Monday’s announcement doesn’t set or solidify the roster of athletes that will eventually compete for gold in 2020. The ISA World Games will feature a diversity of countries currently represented on the CT including Brazil, Costa Rica (Brisa Hennessy), France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. If any of the surfers nominated decline their invitation, the ISA moves down the Jeep Leaderboard Rankings to select the next-highest ranking surfer from that same country. So, for example, Team USA’s initial nominations and three highest ranked CT surfers are John John Florence, Kolohe Andino, and Conner Coffin. If any of those three surfers decline their nomination or can’t compete in the 2019 World Surfing Games, Kelly Slater would be nominated to take their place, sitting one spot behind Coffin with the eighth overall ranking on the CT. The 2019 World Surfing games will also determine Tokyo 2020 spots for Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania, while the qualification slots for the Americas will be detemined at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games in July.
“We’re stoked that the world’s best surfers embrace and understand the importance of the Olympic Movement,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “Most CT surfers have already competed and won medals in the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship so the national team format is not new to them. This ISA World Surfing Games will provide us all with a glimpse of the national pride and team camaraderie on a global stage that will be in full swing during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”
The full eligibility and qualification requirments can be found here, and the CT athletes nominated are as follows:
Australia
Men: Ryan Callinan, Julian Wilson, Owen Wright
Women: Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons, Nikki Van Dijk
Brazil
Men: Italo Ferreira, Filipe Toledo, Gabriel Medina
Women: Tatiana Weston-Webb, Silvana Lima
Costa Rica
Women: Brisa Hennessy
France
Men: Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, Joan Duru
Women: Johanne Defay
Italy
Men: Leonardo Fioravanti
Japan
Men: Kanoa Igarashi
New Zealand
Men: Ricardo Christie
Women: Paige Hareb
South Africa
Men: Jordy Smith
USA
Men: John John Florence, Kolohe Andino, Connor Coffin
Women: Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore, Courtney Conlogue
