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“It Just Comes Down to..”: 15 Year Old Surfer Who Started at Age 5, Took Over Olympic Level Athletes Back in September 2022

Published 01/14/2023, 4:30 PM EST

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Over the years, surfing has grown to be a promising competitive sport. Kelly Slater rose from a young surfer to a beast who has dominated the surfing scene for three decades. But this new surfing prodigy has surprised everyone with his magnificent surfing skills at such a young age. 15-year-old Eeli Timperi has surpassed the skills of Olympic surfers by challenging and defeating them.

Timperi, who hails from Finland, has always dreamt of representing his country on a big stage like the Olympics. By the looks of it, Timperi’s hard work has paid off.

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Putting all the stereotypes aside

Timperi has little care for what people have to say about his age. “Age is not really important to me. You know, it just comes down to whatever you can get yourself to do, especially this event right now. You know, there’s people from all different kind of countries, different ages, different kinds of people. It’s really, really important and really awesome to see these different people coming together,” Timperi says as reported by the Olympics.com.

 

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The surfing prodigy was just 5 years old when he got into the sport. His parents were the ones who introduced him to surfing, right after they moved from Finland to California. In a short time the Timperi was ready to stand on his own two feet and challenge the big names. At the age of 15, he had already garnered a decade of experience. His drive comes from his passion for the sport, as he wants to compete globally against people who have more experience than him.

Leaving surfing stars flabbergasted

To prove himself, he didn’t start off easy. Since he always wanted to get into the Olympics, the young surfer aimed for big surfers to face off against. Timperi competed against American surfer Kolohe Andino and Indonesian surfer Rio Waida. Both surfers have a reputation for competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the prodigy wasn’t afraid of bigger challenges.

At the ISA World Surfing Games, the youngster from Finland was able to score 10.73, which defeated Andino’s 9.87 and Waida’s 9.43. Timperi said that the waves favored him and that he waited for the proper wave to get his game on. With the right judgment and proper skills, he was able to beat two world-renowned surfers with a good score difference. Andino did feel nostalgic even after losing, as he remembered him at the same age winning surfing titles.

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WATCH THIS STORY – Rare Image Shows 50-year-old Surfing Legend Kelly Slater With Hair

What do you think of this emerging surfing star? Do you think he will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics? Let us know in the comment section.

 

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Written by:

Rahul Goutam Hoom

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Rahul Goutam Hoom is a US Sports writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master's in Mass Communication and Journalism from Birla Global University. Rahul does photography and gaming during his leisure hours and likes to watch anime.
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Edited by:

Anupama Ghosh