Paris (AFP)
Frenchman Jérémy Flores qualified for the Olympic Games on Friday, the penultimate stage of the Championship Tour (CT) qualifying for Tokyo 2020 where surfing will make his entry.
Flores (31) has however stopped in the third round of the stage played in Portugal, but the cumulative eliminations of other surfers ensure him to finish in the Top 10 of the CT of the World Surf League (WSL), eligible for Games.
The biggest European surfer of all time, he made a big step towards qualifying last week by winning for the first time in his career the French stage of the pro-world circuit in Hossegor (Landes), 9th of the 11 stages of the CT .
Flores will have to validate his qualification at the Olympics by participating in the World Championships of the International Surfing Association (ISA) in May 2020.
"It's been a long year with a lot of pressure around the Olympics," said Jérémy Flores in a statement from the French Surf Federation.
"I'm glad it's done, happy to represent my country, I've always been proud to represent France, when I represent France, I also represent my island of Reunion," he added.
The young dad, who grew up in Reunion Island, won four victories on the CT (Hawaii 2010 and 2017, Tahiti 2015) that he had integrated at 18 years old.
The President of the Federation, Jean-Luc Arassus, expressed "the sincerest gratitude of French surfing for (this) qualification (...) Jeremy writes his name on this historic page of Olympic surfing".
Michel Bourez and Johanne Defay are also in a favorable position to accompany Jérémy Flores to Tokyo.
© 2019 AFP