The World Champion surfer from the North Shore of Hawaii, John John Florence, rose to fame when he clinched the 2012 Billabong Rio Pro title. A master pipe rider, Florence has been dominating the sport of surfing since he was a teenager. At 13, he became the youngest surfer to participate in the Triple Crown of Surfing, a prince on his way to being crowned king.
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And a king he became, when he won the 2011 Vans Triple Crown, the youngest surfer to win the title. Over the years, John John Florence has given some incredibly tremendous performances that have always astounded the surfing community, despite struggling with multiple back and knee injuries. This includes the last time he participated at the Surf Ranch Pro.
John John Florence gets a near-perfect score
In a resurfaced video shared by the World Surf League channel on YouTube, John John Florence was seen dominating the waves at Kelly Slater’s surf ranch. Florence started by executing a perfect barrel, something which is expected from someone who is considered to be the most dominant pipe surfer of his time.
After riding a flawless tube, he continued to execute complicated surf maneuvers in a manner that can only be described as ‘smooth like butter’. His antics on the waves earned him a 9.80 from the judges, a legendary score befitting a surfing icon. There is no doubt that surfing has a champion in this Hawaiin. After all, he has been riding surfboards since he was 6 months old and chasing waves independently since he was five.
At 13, standing at 4’11”, Florence had the guts to compete in a competition comprising three big-wave events, the Vans Triple Crown. The unparalleled prowess of Florence once prompted Kelly Slater to say, that John John would ride waves “like no one we’ve ever seen before.” This is an apt description for John John Florence, who has never let any obstacle bring him down, and there were many in his way.
How Florence has never let his injuries put him down
Rarely would one be able to witness a surfer as resilient as John John Florence. While all surfers are bested by brutal wipeouts at some point in their careers, the ability of Florence to bounce back is indeed, commendable. The Olympic surfer had to be ruled out for the entire 2018 season after he injured his right knee while free surfing in Bali. But lo and behold, he was back on his board and claimed two victories in 2019, at Bells Beach and in Margaret River Pro.
3 months later, John John hurt the exact same knee once again, tore his ACL, and had to undergo knee surgery. Florence had to spend 6 months in rehab in Hawaii. However, that did not stop him from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. In a flawless exhibition of raw talent, Florence qualified for the Olympics over the legendary Kelly Slater after surfing in a knee brace during the tryouts. Clearly, ‘unstoppable’ is the perfect way to describe this iconic surfer.
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