Frederico Morais, Teresa Bonvalot and Yolanda Hopkins are among the six Portuguese called up for the 2023 World Surfing Championship, which will take place in El Salvador between May 30 and June 7, the Portuguese federation announced Thursday.
After Teresa Bonvalot secured a place for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, through the world tour ranking, Portugal will seek more places in the Olympic Games. At stake is a female and a male vacancy.
In addition to the three Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games -Kikas qualified but missed the competition because he was infected with the coronavirus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic-, the Portuguese surfing coach, David Raimundo, also summoned Guilherme Fonseca, Guilherme Ribeiro and Francisca Veselko. for the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Championship.
“El Salvador will be the penultimate opportunity to qualify athletes for the Paris Olympic Games. We already have guaranteed the presence of Portugal with the classification of Teresa Bonvalot, so the main objective now is to classify two more surfers, one male and one female. we have a strong, cohesive and experienced team, which makes us confident in a good performance”, said David Raimundo, quoted by the Portuguese Surfing Federation (FPS).
In 2021, Yolanda Hopkins became world runner-up and Teresa Bonvalot won the bronze medal, leading Portugal to third place and securing qualification for Tokyo 2020, when they reached fifth and ninth place, respectively.
“I trust the Selector’s choices. I have known all these surfers well for several years and I know their courage and desire to win for Portugal and their desire to be present at the Olympic Games. We have more opportunities after this World Cup, but we are aware of the need to capitalize now”, said the president of the FPS, João Aranha.
Last year, in Huntington Beach, in the United States, Portugal finished fourth in the collective classification, behind the United States, Australia and France, in a competition in which Guilherme Fonseca reached the final, finishing fourth, with the medal of copper, while Bonvalot was sixth after withdrawing from the competition with a dislocated knee.
Source: TSF
