John John Florence and Kelly Slater have some company in bid for Olympic spot
COURTESY WSL / SLOANE
Kelly Slater’s hope for an Olympic spot is still alive. He advanced to the fourth round of the Billabong Pipe Masters today.
The struggle for U.S. Olympic surfing qualification intensified — and got more complicated — today in 10- to 12-foot waves at the Billabong Pipe Masters.
While fans across the world watched on TV and onlookers hitting Ehukai Beach in droves, 11-time World Surf League champion Kelly Slater and Haleiwa’s John John Florence continued their drive toward that coveted Olympic berth with sterling performances in third-round heat victories.
But an afterthought from Hawaii named Seth Moniz put his name in the running. Thought to be out of contention for the Olympics, in reality, Moniz entered the contest with a long-shot chance.
But with all the hype on Florence and Slater — among the top surfers the world has ever seen — Moniz kept pace at Pipe today and could sneak into the Olympics with a win or super-high contest finish.
The two American Olympic berths will go to the top two U.S. surfers in the WSL’s year-end rankings. Fifth-ranked Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif., already sealed one spot.
The other will go to either No. 8 Florence, No. 10 Slater or No. 12 Moniz. Had any one of those three lost today, they would have been out of the hunt. But all three were on their game and advanced to the fourth round (round of 16). Florence defeated Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau 18.50 to 4.50; Slater scored a 10.00 on an extra-long backdoor barrel in getting past France’s Joan Duru 17.33 to 14.23; and Moniz topped Hawaii’s Billy Kemper 15.26 to 13.00.
The five-man world title race that will also be decided at Pipeline is now down to three, with No. 3 Jordy Smith of South Africa and No. 4 Filipe Toledo of Brazil bowing out. Toledo lost to Australia’s Ricardo Christie 11.04 to 9.84, and Smith was eliminated by Brazil’s Jesse Mendes 9.10 to 7.50.
No. 1 Italo Ferreira and No. 2 Gabriel Medina of Brazil are the front-runners in the world title chase and both made it through to the round of 16, which could be as soon as Thursday, conditions permitting. Andino, who surfs his third-round heat in the late afternoon, is the only other athlete with a shot at the world title but his chances are slim.
One day of competition remains in the Pipe Masters. Large surf with great conditions are expected through the weekend and the next call will be Thursday at 8 a.m.
