Leonardo Fioravanti Grabs Olympic Lead After Performance At Opening Ceremony - Stab Mag

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Leonardo Fioravanti Grabs Olympic Lead After Performance At Opening Ceremony

Meanwhile, team USA stays in third place.

news // Jul 23, 2021
Words by Brendan Buckley
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Surfing just experienced its first-ever Olympic opening ceremony.

It was not as widely attended as years past, because we’re still living through a pandemic. There are approximately 11,000 athletes participating in the Tokyo Games and you know what they say about large gatherings.

If an athlete tests positive for COVID, their Olympic dreams are immediately smashed—which is new to surfing, where lifelong goals have historically been demolished via a decade of floundering on the QS. All up, Australia sent 50 of its 488 competitors to the ceremony—including Owen Wright.

A handful of other surfers attended. However, our sport’s most triumphant attendee was Leonardo Fioravanti. Leo was a standout on live TV and in turn jumped straight to the top of Stab’s official Olympic leaderboard.

Which, frankly, is awesome to see. Still, a big question looms: Will Leo be able to carry the momentum into the water when the first call is made on Sunday morning at 7AM, Japan time.

Meanwhile, team USA’s surfers did not attend the ceremony and are currently in third place, according to this geotag. Which is a fair goal—it will likely be impossible to stop Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira in playful beachbreak conditions.

We’ll keep a close eye on surf-related Ralph Lauren sales, and provide you with daily updates from surfing’s maiden Olympics.

Lastly, we’d be remiss to not shoutout Jordy’s knee for getting Leo in the fold.

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