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OLYMPIC GAMES

Surfing USA team at Tokyo Olympics 2021: surfers and trials

Surfing premiers as an Olympic sport in Tokyo, the United States team is: John John Florence, Carissa Moore, Kolohe Andino and Caroline Marks.

Update:
USA's Carissa Moore rides a wave during the women's Surfing Third round at the Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, in Chiba, on July 26, 2021 during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by Olivier MORIN / AFP)
OLIVIER MORINAFP

Surfing premiers as an Olympic sport in Tokyo, and the United States was hoping their dream team, composed of world-class surfers, would make big splash. The US contingent of two men and two women is from both coasts and Hawaii. John John Florence and Carissa Moore are natives of the island, Kolohe Andino is from California, while Caroline Marks is from Florida.

The four members of Team USA qualified for the Olympics on the basis of their performance in the 2019 World Surf League. Alas, for the US medal hopes, John John Florence was paired with Kolohe Andino and went crashing out, before Andino faced Kanoa Igarashi in the quarter-finals, losing to the Japanese surfer 12.60 to 11.00.

The women are in action Monday evening (US times), with Caroline Marks facing Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy in the quarter-finals (9pm ET), with Carissa Moore up afterwards at 9:36pm against Brazil's Silvana Lima.

More Olympic stories

World #1 Carissa Moore

Carissa Moore from Honolulu is currently leading the board at the World Surf League. The world number one has bagged four world titles. She became the youngest person- male or female- to win a surfing world title when she was just 18 years old. She was also the first woman to compete in the prestigious Triple Crown of Surfing, which features the world’s best male surfers.

Caroline Marks from Melbourne Beach, Florida, holds her own set of records. She was the youngest athlete- male or female- to qualify for the World Surf League Championship tour at only 15 years of age. Marks finished her second year on tour ranked number two in the world, and repeated the feat in 2020.

Florence: Bouncing back from injury

The male surfers have outstanding track records as well. John John Florence of Oahu, Hawaii is a two-time world champion who overcame an injury to gain a seat at the Olympics. He missed more than half the season because of a damaged ACL, but his performance in the first half was so impressive that it was enough to earn him a slot.

Kolohe Andino from San Clemente California was the first to qualify for the US surfing team with a showing so powerful that he earned the position before the surf season ended. Andino has won seven USA Surfing Champion titles and nine National Scholastic Surfing Association Championships. He is an entertaining surfer to watch and is often filmed because of his aggressive style.