Leon Glatzer represents the German Surfing Association at the Olympic premiere of his sport in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old prevailed against well-known competition at the “World Surfing Games” of the international association ISA and secured one of the five Japanese starting places that will be awarded to the men at the competition in El Salvador.
"We put so much work into it with the German team," said the bald man who grew up in Costa Rica. "It is definitely historical to be the only German surfer at the Olympics." The past ten days have been the most emotional time of his life, he wrote on Instagram. “I woke up at 3 a.m. every day, didn't know why, just went out, looked at the stars and prayed that I would make it to the Olympics. And it happened, this is the happiest day of my life. "
At the Olympic Games, which begin in Tokyo on July 23, 20 men and 20 women will surf for the medals. The starting places are allocated on a personalized basis. A maximum of two women and two men are allowed to start for each nation. At the World Championships in El Salvador, in addition to Glatzer, there were five other surfers for Germany. Marlon Lipke, Dylan Groen, Camilla Kemp, Noah Lia Klapp and Rachel Presti missed the qualification for the Summer Games.