2023 Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o: Preview, schedule and how to watch as tour finalists and more Olympic quotas are decided 

Taking place exactly one year before the surfing competition at Paris 2024, Tahiti Pro promises to give a sneak peek at the surfers who will be among the top contenders for Olympic gold on the infamous wave.

6 minBy Lena Smirnova
A male surfer navigates a barrel at Teahupo'o.

(Allsport Australia/ALLSPORT)

Thirty-four of the world’s best surfers, a nine-foot wave and several Olympic quotas ready for the taking.

The penultimate face-off on the WSL Championship Tour could not have higher stakes, or a better stage than the infamous Teahupo’o wave, the venue of the surfing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The competition will decide the final five male and female surfers who will advance to the Rip Curl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles, San Clemente, California in September.

More provisional quotas for the upcoming Olympic Games could also be decided. A total of 18 spots, 10 men and eight women, will be awarded through the Championship Tour in the 2023 season. Four slots each in the men's and women's competitions have been filled thus far.

Tahiti Pro takes place between 11 and 20 August. Find out about the top stars in the line-up, competition format, and how to watch all the action live in our preview.

From Tahiti Pro to WSL Finals: Men's final five

Tahiti Pro is the last stop on the Championship Tour before the finals, which take place from 8 to 16 September.

The final five men and women who will compete in California will be decided in Tahiti. Three of the men’s slots have already been booked with defending champion Filipe Toledo, Australia’s Ethan Ewing and USA’s Griffin Colapinto earning spots during the previous Champoomship Tour stop, in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa in July.

Rankings leader Toledo won two of the last three stops and is now leading the rankings with 54,980 points. Last month's win - his career's third at J-Bay Pro - also earned him a provisional quota for Paris 2024.

Toledo is the first on Brazil's highly-competitive men's team to qualify for the upcoming Games. Three of his teammates are neck-and-neck in the rankings to take the coveted second spot – Joao Chianca in fourth, Yago Dora in fifth and three-time WSL champion Gabriel Medina in sixth.

Medina sits 1,425 points behind Dora and 1,150 points ahead of USA's John John Florence who is aiming to qualify for his career’s first final five.

Australia’s Jack Robinson, Ryan Callinan and Connor O’Leary are also within striking distance of the top five. The highest-ranked among them after Tahiti Pro could join Ewing on the Australian team going to the next Olympic Games.

Already with a ticket to Paris 2024 in hand, Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti could also make it into the final five for the first time. He currently sits ninth in the rankings and has enjoyed his best season so far.

Women’s final five: The quest for one remaining spot

On the women’s side, only one spot remains among the final five going to California. USA’s Carissa Moore and Australia's Tyler Wright were the first to secure their spots, at Rio Pro, with their compatriots Caroline Marks and Molly Picklum joining the list during the competition in South Africa. 

USA’s Lakey Peterson jumped two spots to sixth place after her victory at J-Bay Pro to put herself in contention for the last remaining spot. Another USA surfer, Caitlin Simmers, currently fifth with two victories so far this season, Australian legend Stephanie Gilmore and Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb could also make the cut for the finals.

The results of Tahiti Pro will also likely decide the USA and Australian surfers going to Paris 2024. Weston-Webb is currently the only woman in the Top 10 to have secured a provisional quota.

Olympic champion Moore has led the rankings since winning Surf Ranch Pro in late May and currently has 57,745 points. While she has not managed to advance to a final at the last three stops and is still far from assured her sixth world title, a quota to Paris 2024 is well within her reach.

Marks, Simmers and Peterson are also in position to earn a ticket to Paris 2024. Unlike other teams, USA will be able to send three female surfers to the upcoming Olympics thanks to its women winning an extra quota through the 2022 World Surfing Games. The owner of that third quota will be decided at a later date.

The pressure is higher for Australia, which has a maximum of two female quotas as of now. Wright and Picklum are hoping to go to their first Games, while Gilmore is eager for a second try after finishing ninth at Tokyo 2020.

Tahiti Pro: The Olympic rehearsal

Taking place almost exactly a year before the surfing competition at Paris 2024, Tahiti Pro will be a curtain raiser for the athletes to watch at the upcoming Games.

Tahiti native Kauli Vaast, who secured his Paris ticket through the 2023 World Surfing Games, showed the value of local knowledge when he finished second at the Tahiti Pro last season despite coming into the competition as a wildcard. He returns in the same wildcard status in 2023, but now as one of the main contenders rather than an underdog.

Local knowlege of Teahupo'o has also benefitted Vahine Fierro. The Tahitian surfer beat Moore to advance to the semifinals in 2022 before getting knocked out by eventual winner Brisa Hennessy.

This will be the second season that women are competing at Tahiti Pro since 2006. Nine of the 12 women who competed at this stop last season will return to tackle Teahupo'o once again and get more competition experience on the world-famous wave ahead of the ultimate test next year.

Schedule, format and how to watch

The Tahiti Pro competition is held between 11 and 20 August, with the schedule to change depending on weather and wave conditions.

Three athletes will face off in the opening round with the winner advancing directly to the Round of 16. The other two surfers will have to fight their way up from the elimination round.

Two athletes will be paired against one another in the following rounds with the winner moving on through the bracket until the final.

All the WSL Championship Tour events are streamed live on the WSL website and YouTube page.

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