3 Frenchmen have already qualified for the Olympic Games!

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, surfing will be in the spotlight!

40 surfers, equally divided between men and women, will compete in a shortboard competition in Tokyo.

To guarantee the best possible conditions and good quality waves, the tests will be spread over 4 days, with a waiting period of 2 weeks.

Qualifications :

The surfers were selected as follows:

The first step was to select the top 10 men and the top 8 women in the 2019 World Surf League rankings;

Next, the top 5 men and top 7 women in the ISA World Surfing Games 2020 rankings;

Then a place is awarded by gender to the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games champion;

Finally, the first man and woman at the 2019 Panamanian Games.

Not to mention that the host country automatically qualifies a man and a woman for its country.

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Our French surfers :

Johanne Defay :

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Our French surfer from Reunion Island has proven herself to the world.

She started competing at a very young age and went on to win European Junior Champion titles in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

In 2013, she also won the European Champion title and qualified for the Championship Tour.

In 2015 she took 3rd place in the Fiji Women's Pro rankings and was victorious in the Women's Vans US Open of Surfing.

She is also the first surfer to win a final from outside the world's top 10.

She followed this up in 2016 with two third-place finishes at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast and Cascais Women's Pro, and exacted her revenge at the Fiji Women's Pro, this time taking first place.

2017 was marked for Johanne by two first places at the Anditi Women's Pro and the Port Stephens Toyota NSW Pro.

She went on to take first place in the 2018 Uluwatu CT and second place in the 2019 Freshwater Pro.

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Jérémy Florès:

He is certainly one of the most successful French surfers of his generation. Also originally from La Réunion, he grew up between Sydney, Australia and Capbreton, France. Jérémy Florès has set himself apart by becoming the youngest surfer in the world to join the WCT at just 18 years of age.

In 2005, he became European Junior Champion and World Junior Team Champion.

Since then, he's been racking up seasons, titles and podiums.

His last major victory was first place at the Quiksilver Pro France in 2019, when he became the first French surfer to win the Pro France.

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Michel Bourez :

Originally from French Polynesia, he took up surfing at the tender age of 13, but he went on to become one of France's most renowned surfers.

He has made a name for himself, winning against some of the world's greatest surfers, including Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, John John Florence and Joel Parkinson.

He went on to win 3 victories and 1 final on the Championship Tour and 3 victories and 1 final in the Qualifying Series.

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Training :

The team took part in a training camp in Tahiti from February 10 to March 6, 2020 on the Papara and Papenoo beach breaks. It's a spot that's relatively similar to the waves our French athletes are expected to encounter at the Olympic Games, which were originally scheduled for summer 2020. However, the Games have been postponed and will start on July 23, 2021.

During the course, the surfers did physical preparation, multiple surf training sessions with video feedback to perfect their skills as much as possible, and feedback on technical equipment to achieve the best possible results.

A whole technical team is on hand to provide them with the best possible training. Michel Plateau, national technical director, Stéphane Corbinien, director of the French team, Patrick Flores, head coach of the French team and father of Jeremy Flores, Frederic Robin, Olympic coach, and Xavier Mondenx, the federation's physical trainer.

Polynesian coaches were also present.

The next surfing events of the 2024 Olympics are set to be held on the legendary Teahupoo spot in French Polynesia.

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The ISA World Championships to be held in El Salvador in May 2021 will determine the second surfer to join the French team in Tokyo.

Listed: Pauline ADO and Vahine FIERRO, competition to follow from May 29 to June 6

It's up to them!

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