Teresa Bonvalot secured a place for Portugal in the women’s surfing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the International Surfing Association (ISA) confirmed this Tuesday, thanks to her 17th position in the World Surfing League (WSL) ranking.
The 23-year-old surfer from Cascais was present at the sport’s debut at the Olympic Games, when she took ninth place in the Tokyo 2020 event at Tsurigasaki Beach in 2021.
Teresa Bonvalot secured one of eight spots allocated through the World Surf League (WSL) world circuit, along with France’s Johanne Defay, Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy and Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, while the remaining surfers, North American and Australians are still battling for the remaining four spots.
The surfing competition Paris2024, which will be held in French Polynesia, will see 22 surfers take part, with Portugal still able to compete for more spots in the 2023 ISA Worlds, in El Salvador, between May 30 and June 7, and 2024, in Puerto Rico.
“It is the official confirmation that we have been waiting for a while and that has all justice. For Teresa and for national surfing, which will be one of the first modalities to guarantee an athlete for next year’s Olympics. […]. I have already been able to congratulate Teresa and she is of course very happy,” said João Aranha, President of the Portuguese Surfing Federation (FPS).
In Tokyo2020, alongside Teresa Bonvalot, Portuguese surfing was also represented by Yolanda Hopkins, who finished in fifth place, while Frederico Morais missed the competition because he was infected with the coronavirus responsible for the covid-19 pandemic at the time.
Swimmers Diogo Ribeiro, Miguel Nascimento and Camila Rebelo also managed to be in the French capital.
At Nationals, on March 31, Diogo Ribeiro became the first to qualify, swimming the 50-meter freestyle in 21.87 seconds, a new national record. At the same Portuguese Open, Miguel Nascimento achieved the minima in the 50-meter freestyle, with a score of 21.91 seconds, in a successful weekend for national swimming, as Camila Rebelo also won a place in Paris2024 in the 200-meter backstroke, by winning the winning the distance, with a new national record (02.09.84 minutes) at the Spanish Open, in Palma de Mallorca.
Source: DN
