A royal wave: Norwegian princess wins national junior surfing championship
The 16-year-old royal showed that there may soon be another Olympian in the family.
Surfing
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is on the way to becoming her nation’s surfing queen after winning the national junior championship on Saturday.
The 16-year-old scored 12.83 in 1ft waves to take top spot at Borestraden Beach in Jaeren.
Her father, Crown Prince Haakon and mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit were in attendance to give their daughter a royal seal of approval.
It was the first time there was a separate class for women in the junior surfing national championship.
The new classification came just in time for the princess to show off her skills, having received a gift certificate for a surfing course in 2019 by the country governors in Norway.
Surfing will make its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 (delayed until 2021). While this will likely be too early for the princess to consider, she may well be competing for her nation at the Paris 2024 Games.
But if she does make the Olympics, she won’t be the first in her family to do so. The princess’ grandfather, King Harald, competed in the Olympics in 1964, 1968 and 1972 as a sailor.
Princess Ingrid is the eldest child in her family and expected to succeed King Harald V to become the country’s second female monarch.