Rising French surfer Vahine Fierro on going for gold at ISA World Surfing Games 2022 with Paris 2024 qualification on offer
The junior world champion surfer from French Polynesia is in Huntington Beach to chase a quota spot for Paris 2024, with the dream of competing on home waves once again.
Surfing
Vahine Fierro has a clear goal for the 2022 ISA World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, California.
“Win the gold medal with the girls to get an additional Olympic quota for France”, she told Olympics.com ahead of the Paris 2024 Qualifier.
The event from 16-24 September, which is live on Olympic Channel, offers one Olympic quota spot per gender. The golden tickets are in addition to the two athlete quota spots that each country is normally allowed for the Games.
That would give Fierro a higher chance of competing at the next Olympic surfing competition, to be held in Teahupo’o on the island of Tahiti, less than 200km away from her native island of Huahine, in French Polynesia.
Hopes are high - in the 2021 event, she won the Team Points event with her French squad.
The 22-year-old sill lives in her southern Pacific Ocean homeland when she’s not away competing at international competitions. She spent the first half of this season on the World Surf League (WSL) Challenger Series and impressed at one stage of the prestigious Championship Tour held in Tahiti.
A strong preparation for the ISA World Surfing Games
Vahine Fierro, Pauline Ado, and Tessa Thyssen are the Team France women competing at the 2022 Surfing Games. Two of them were in the gold medal-winning team in 2021: Fierro and Ado.
Currently ranked number 12 in the WSL Challenger Series, Vahine Fierro has spent several weeks training hard on the beach-break waves of her island with national coach Hira Teriinatoofa, also from Tahiti, and a two-time gold medallist at the Surfing Games (2004, 2010).
“We worked on my aggressiveness and maneuvers on beach-break, but also on 20 minutes heats, the length at the Surfing Games.”
Last year, Fierro couldn’t do better than ninth place individually after contracting Covid-19 ahead of the competition, a rank that wasn't enough for her to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
During the coming days in California, in addition to going for gold, she also hopes to “have more fun”.
READ MORE - Complete guide to the 2022 ISA World Surfing Games
Huntington Beah? “A nice wave”
In Huanine, surfers ride reef-breaks waves. These mainly produce large barrels (tubes), and can look easier, but are often more difficult to approach and more dangerous.
They're the type of waves found at Pipeline in Hawaii, or Teahupo’o, where Fierro moved during high school.
Beach-break waves, as found in Huntington, are more unpredictable. Surfers perform more tricks including cut-backs or aerials before finishing their runs.
Fierro had to get used to beach-break waves, but can now compete with the best in the world. She particularly likes the California location where the Surfing Games take place.
“This wave changes a lot, it’s never the same from one heat to another. I like those conditions and it’s a nice wave”, she says.
If she manage to win with Team France, she would have an additional chance of being selected for Olympic Games Paris 2024 and competing at Teahupo’o, not for the first time.
READ MORE: How to qualify for surfing at Paris 2024 - The Olympic qualification system explained
Vahine Fierro, third at the Tahiti Pro
In August, the 2018 junior world champion received a wild-card to compete at the Tahiti Pro stage of the 2022 WSL Championship Tour (CT), on the Olympic wave, for the return of women's competition at the famous venue after a 16 year absence.
A wildcard Fierro honoured with a third place finish, including two successive wins against French star Johanne Defay, third in the WSL general rankings in 2022, as well as beating Carissa Moore, Olympic champion and five-time WSL world champion.
An outstanding result for the French Polynesian, achieved with a simple strategy.
“Whether you compete against the surfer ranked first or last on the CT, they are all very strong. So I put my emotions aside, I focused on my strategy and the waves I wanted to take.”
After her third place in Teahupo’o, she stayed at home for several weeks, to “recovered habits after many travels” and “prepared well for the ISA World Surfing Games”.
Now, it's time for the first Paris 2024 Qualifier event in the sport.
“I can’t wait. Pauline, Tessa, and myself have enough experience and I think we have a great team and we can go far”, she concludes.
READ MORE - Complete guide to the 2022 ISA World Surfing Games
How to watch live ISA World Surfing Games?
You can follow the action of the ISA World Surfing Games live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and on the official Olympic Games apps for mobile and connected TV devices.