Surfing's world no.1 Filipe Toledo and no.2 Ethan Ewing book spots at Paris 2024 Olympics
Four out of 10 available men's qualification spots offered through the World Surf League's Championship Tour were filled during the Jeffreys Bay stage of the Tour with Toledo and Ewing set to head to their first Olympic Games.
Surfing
Brazil’s Filipe Toledo and Australia’s Ethan Ewing have both secured spots for the men's surfing competition the Paris 2024 Olympic Games through their ranking in the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour 2023.
The two surfers finished first and second at the J-Pro Open stage of the 2023 tour on Thursday (20 July), putting them firmly at the top of the rankings.
Toledo was a reserve on the highly competitive Brazilian team during the inaugural Olympic surfing competition at Tokyo 2020 in 2021. Since then he has won the Championship Tour title, in 2022, and currently leads the world ranking with two more stops to go.
Ewing is ranked second in the world. Paris 2024 will be his first Olympic Games.
Toledo and Ewing faced off in the final at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, with Toledo moving out of reach after landing a massive 9.93-scoring wave and ultimately winning the final with a total of 18.76 points to Ewing's 12.60.
Both surfers have had a long-time presence on the Championship Tour and have competed on the Teahupo'o wave in Tahiti, which will host the Paris 2024 surfing competition.
Ewing finished ninth there last season, losing to Tahiti native Kauli Vaast in the Round of 16. Toledo's best result was third in 2018.
With Tokyo 2020 champion Italo Ferreira suffering a knee injury which could rule him out for the rest of the season, Toledo could be the man to lead Brazil's quest to retain the gold medal.
"I think (Brazil) managed to unlock a new level because everyone was very excited. We had the world champion and a guy who wins a medal in the Olympics. It is something extraordinary, so the expectation is for the best," Toledo told Olympics.com before securing the Paris 2024 quota. "I hope I can be there, representing my country, representing my sport and, who knows, maybe getting a medal for Brazil again.”
Toledo and Ewing join six other male surfers who have booked spots for Paris 2024.
They include the four male surfers who qualified to Paris 2024 in June as the top ranked surfers on their continents at the 2023 World Surfing Games: France’s Kauli Vaast for Europe, Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi for Asia, New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand for Oceania, and South Africa’s Jordy Smith for Africa. USA’s Griffin Colapinto and Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti also clinched tickets this week after the competition at Jeffreys Bay.
All the spots earned for the Paris 2024 Games are provisional until a final announcement after the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games and review by the athletes’ respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs).