Australian surfer Conor O'Leary, the son of a Japanese mother, has been selected to join the surfing team at the Paris Olympics.
Japan's men's surfing team won the team title at the World Games, which is equivalent to the world championship, the year before, earning them a spot in the Paris Olympics.
In principle, there are only two surfing spots for each country or region for the Paris Games, but two people, Kanoa Igarashi, who was the silver medalist at the Tokyo Games, and Reio Inaba, won the right to participate under different conditions. The Japan Surfing Federation has been proceeding with the selection for the one spot obtained by winning the World Games.
As a result, the team announced on the 12th that they had selected O'Leary, a 30-year-old player from Australia whose mother is Japanese.
According to the federation, the selection process was based on the training camp held last December and the world rankings, and the final decision was made after the board meeting on the 8th of this month.
In addition to the three male surfers who will be on the Paris Olympic surfing team, the female surfer Shino Matsuda has also been selected.
Who is Conor O'Leary?
Conor O'Leary is a 30-year-old player from Australia.
His specialty is powerful surfing that takes advantage of his tall and blessed physique.
His mother is Akemi Karasawa, a former Japanese surfing champion.
The World Games, the surfing world championship, which was held until the 3rd of this month, was his debut as a member of the Japanese national team.
Last season, on the Championship Tour, which features the world's top players, he placed 11th, ahead of Kanoa Igarashi, who was a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics and has been selected to represent the Paris Games in 14th place.
This is the first time that I have been selected to represent the Olympic team.