HONOLUA BAY, Maui, Hawaii/USA (Sunday, December 1, 2019): Carissa Moore (USA) has qualified through the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) to represent USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Following Moore’s result at the lululemon Maui Pro, she is guaranteed to finish as one of the top two American women on the WSL Rankings and has earned her provisional place to compete in Tokyo.
“I am honored to be going to the Olympics next year and representing the US,” said Moore. “I haven’t even let myself dream about it because I wanted to make it and then finally dream about it. I am excited to go home and celebrate with my family. More work to do tomorrow for Finals Day but overall I am so grateful and happy.”
Moore, 27, is a three-time World Champion from Honolulu, Hawaii. Moore arrived on the Championship Tour in 2010 posing an immediate threat to Stephanie Gilmore’s reign. She unleashed a paradigm-shifting supply of power to the CT, earning her three World Titles. Moore won her last World Title in 2015 and suffered through her career-worst slump in 2017, winning just one event and ending the year at No. 5. In 2018, Moore jumped back up to No. 3 on the rankings with two first-place finishes, and now is within striking distance of winning her fourth World Title in 2019.
Surfing will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020 and the 2019 WSL CT, the elite year-long tour that crowns the World Champions each season, will be an important qualification pathway for the world’s best surfers.
To find out more download the WSL App, check out the WSL Rankings and follow Moore at @rissmoore10.
Following the final CT events of 2019 (the Hawaii Pro from November 25 to December 6, 2019 and the Billabong Pipe Masters from December 8 to 20, 2019), the WSL rankings will determine the first 18 eligible Olympic qualifiers (10 men and 8 women), subject to all qualified surfers meeting the ISA’s and IOC’s eligibility requirements and being selected by their respective National Olympic Committee.
There is a maximum of two men and two women for each country that can qualify for the 2020 Games so this year’s CT sees surfers not only battle for the World Title and requalification for the tour but also to finish as one of the top two ranked surfers from their nation.
The remaining 22 places are being determined through the 2019 and 2020 ISA World Surfing Games, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, and a single slot (each for men and women) for the host nation, Japan.
Provisional Olympic selection based on the current WSL Rankings:
USA – Kolohe Andino, John John Florence, Carissa Moore, Caroline Marks
Australia – Owen Wright, Julian Wilson, Sally Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Gilmore
Brasil – Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Silvana Lima
Japan – Kanoa Igarashi
South Africa – Jordy Smith
France – Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, Johanne Defay
Costa Rica – Brisa Hennessy
The world’s best surfers are currently in Hawaii for the final stop on the 2019 CT, the lululemon Maui Pro, which is likely to see the final qualifications unfold tomorrow starting at 7:35 a.m. HST.
Both events will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, the WSL App and Facebook.com/WSL. Also, check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners around the world.
