Hawaiian Surfer to Represent Brazil in order to Compete in the Olympics

05/11/2018 - 12h19

When it comes to surfing, Hawaiian athletes represent their own island in the World Surf League (WSL) - the international surfing competition. However, this kind of leeway will not be granted to the American island in the qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hawaiians will either have to represent the United States or another country.

Tatiana Weston-Webb, whose father is British and whose mother is Brazilian, was born in Porto Alegre, but has lived in Hawaii since the age of two. However, the 22-year-old's dream of participating in the Olympics motivated her to fight for one of Brazil's four slots in the Olympic Games (two slots are reserved for men while another two are reserved for women). She is currently ranked fourth internationally.

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	Tatiana Guimarães Weston-Webb

Weston-Webb will represent Brazil for the first time in Saquarema, which is where the river stage of the World Championship will be held.

"I am happy about my decision. It was a very big decision in my life, but I think I made the right choice," Weston-Webb said in fluent Portuguese, though with a distinct Hawaiian accent.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) has announced that it will financially support the Women's surf team during the tryout phase for the Tokyo Olympics. The team consists of Weston Webb, two-time world champion Silvana Lima and Tainá Hinckel, who is based in the state of Santa Catarina. However, only two of them will get to go to Tokyo - as long as they both manage to qualify, that is.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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