Like athletes of all other sports, the world’s best surfers are also gearing up for the final stretch of the Paris Olympics. The ongoing Tahiti Pro has even more significance because the same pristine beaches of Teahupo’o will host the Olympics. However, things aren’t looking to be too great for the USA, with its biggest surfing star John John Florence hitting a rough spot.

The WSL event’s live broadcast crowned the Tahiti Pro winner only moments ago. Brazilian Italo Ferreira edged past both Florence and Kelly Slater to win the title and send a crucial message to his opponents ahead of the Games with a massive 11-spot jump in the rankings.

The 2019 WSL champ clinched the victory over Florence in awestriking 4/5 meter waves in a competition that saw several 9-pointers from the participants. Ferreira maintained consistently high scores throughout the heats while also racking up a high wave count. Two nine-pointers in the round of 16 and the quarterfinal undoubtedly injected more confidence in the Brazilian who went on to build an early lead over John John of 17.70 in the heat, while the latter’s fall resulted in a no-score.

The 2020 Olympic gold medalist Italo caught two bombs of waves to register his impressive scores as the safety personnel were aiding the Hawaiian to catch his breath. While Ferreira celebrates his first CT win since April 2021, the 11-time WSL champion Kelly Slater fell to his own demons.

Coming out of retirement, Slater was handed a defeat by Ramzi Boukhiam, ending the former’s run at the Tahiti Pro in the quarterfinal. While Florence’s fans are justifiably livid about his result at the competition despite reaching the final, it’s not like there aren’t any silver linings to the whole affair.

Final takeaways for John John Florence from Teahupo’o

Ahead of this year’s Tahiti Pro, Florence pondered the chance of him coming face to face with Slater in a bid to draw a conclusion to their almost decade-old rivalry. While that plan didn’t pan out, Florence walked away from the tournament with a few boasting rights of his own. The semifinal match between John and Gabriel Medina was one for the history books.

The fourteenth meet between the two former world champions saw Median take a nasty fall that pummeled him against the coral reef, leaving his back bleeding. Taking advantage of Median’s setback, Florence gained a lead that he rode on to secure his place in the final.

While John John didn’t win the battle, he still maintained a commanding grip on the war. With 31,465 points to his name, Florence leads the WSL men’s ranking list and will now be doing the yellow jersey. With the world’s top surfers waiting to return to Teahupo’o in less than two months with the Olympics, it waits to be if John John can keep his head in the game and scoop up the big prize in late July.