The Portuguese Francisca Veselko highlighted her enormous happiness to be crowned world junior surfing champion in the United States (USA), assuring that she will fight for qualification to the main circuit and to the 2024 Olympic Games.
“I am very happy to be able to make history for Portugal and to be able to represent our country in the best way. I knew that it was going to be an event with big names, with the best junior surfers in the world, and my main objective had to be to maintain the consistency and be mentally prepared, because it would not be an easy event to win,” the athlete from the USA told Lusa.
The 19-year-old Portuguese girl, who received a wild card (invitation) to the World Surfing League (WSL) championship in San Diego, California, scored a total of 12.47 points in the decisive and highly contested tie (7, 00 and 5.47), surpassing the American rival Sawyer Lindblad, who scored 12.33 (6.50 and 5.83).
Congratulations Francisca Veselko, Junior World Champion 2022! #SAMBAZONWJChampionship@sambazon @Best Western pic.twitter.com/RU2rq5z00r
– World Surf League (@wsl) January 13, 2023
“When I think of the words world champion it’s the only moment I think: wow, this was huge. I was super happy and it was a 100% confidence boost,” Kika revealed, adding that having won the win with her father , his brother Jaime, coach Rodrigo Sousa and other relatives on the beach “made everything even more exciting.”
The surfer from Carcavelos, champion of Portugal in 2021, is the first Portuguese surfer to reach the junior world title, the same feat that Vasco Ribeiro achieved, in the men’s category, in 2014, highlighting the good conditions he found in California.
“There were definitely high waves. For me it is even more special to win with a perfect sea, where we all had great opportunities, and it was not a lottery sea, which could have been ‘luck’. It was special to have won with good conditions,” she underlined.
In addition to the world title in the category, the athlete, who started surfing at the age of six, automatically qualified for the 2023 Challenger Series, which gives access to the WSL main circuit (CT) in 2024.
“My goal is to qualify for CT, it was always my dream as a child and I will keep fighting until I get there. And I also have the goal of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games,” concluded Veselko, the daughter of surfer parents. (American father and Portuguese mother), born in Irvine, California, but raised in Portugal.
Source: TSF
