Emmanuel Langelier, Media365: Published on Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 2:31 p.m.
An impressive surfing performance from Frenchwoman Johanne Defay who beat the double world champion to win an event in Portugal.
Four months before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the French delegation received some very good news in the last hours. If the performance recorded during the big event on the Teahupoo wave is repeated, it will be a fantastic gold medal for the French team. You may have understood that we are talking about surfing. At the Supertubos location in Peniche, Portugal, a French woman made a good impression. This athlete is Johan Defay. The latter actually won the Pro Portugal Championship, the third round of the professional circuit, on Saturday afternoon.
Defay returned to his best after his 2023 was disrupted by a right foot injury at the end of 2022 at Reunion (three metatarsal fractures), produced a flawless performance in Portugal and came back to victory after two quarterfinal matches in Hawaii. Banzaï Pipeline and Sunset Beach locations. The Reunionese thus achieved their first success since G-Land in 2022 and the sixth of their CT career (following the US Open in 2015, Fiji in 2016, Uluwatu in 2018, On the Farm in 2021, and Indonesia two years ago ).
Johan Defay is now in second place in the world rankings
Johan Defay corrected Lucky Peterson in the semi-finals (14.54 – 11.93) and then left a lasting impression when she became the two-time world champion in the final. French surfer Tyler Wright (10.83 – 5.50) dominated strongly thanks to good wave choice. Here she is in second place in the world rankings with 19,490 points. She remains ahead of Australian Molly Picklum (20,410 points), while she is now ahead of Sakura Johnson (18,630 points). Defay has already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and we are clearly hoping she will repeat her Portuguese performance. Note that among the men, American Griffin Colapinto won by defeating Australian Ethan Ewing in the final (17.94 – 11.13). This is his fourth victory in the elite, allowing him to top the world rankings with 16,640 points, ahead of Ewing (15,865) and John John Florence (15,865). The next event will take place on the pro circuit in Bells Beach, Australia, on March 26.