2024 Paris Olympics

‘It's trippy': California surfer sets sights on catching a gold medal at Paris Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympics will take place next summer from July 26 to Aug. 11. 

Griffin Colapinto of the United States surfs in Heat 1 of the Round of 16 at the Corona Open J-Bay on July 18, 2023 at Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa. (Photo by Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League via Getty Images)
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Griffin Colapinto, a professional surfer from San Clemente, has secured a place for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The announcement was made by the International Surfing association last week.

“Definitely it will simplify things for me just knowing that that’s already been accomplished, and I can already start getting my mind ready for the Olympics,” said the 24-year-old surfer.

He is the first surfer to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team thanks to his ranking at the World Surf League.

Being part of the Olympics was always a dream for Colapinto.

“Ever since they announced that surfing made the Olympics. So that's when it became my goal,” he said. “It's trippy because when I was younger, like 12 years old, surfing Olympics was never even a thought. So it's crazy that I got into something at that age, not even expecting for this to be a thing and now here I am in the Olympics."

Colapinto now wants to get ready for the Olympics physically and mentally.

“I meditate pretty much every morning and, yeah, I just train, train, surf a lot, try and work on being a good human being, be the best person I can be every day,” he said.

During the 2024 Summer Olympics, there will be eight more surfers competing. The sport just made its debut during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, where Italo Ferreira, from Brazil, and Carissa Moore, from the U.S. won the gold medal. 

Four years ago, Colapinto did not qualify for the Olympic Games, being ranked fifth with only two selected to participate. The United States surf team was represented by John John Florence and Kolohe Andino.

Surfing events will be held in Teahupoʻo, a seaside village on the southwestern coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia.

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