For the Tokyo Olympics this summer, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. Leading up to the Opening Ceremony, we’re highlighting 23 athletes in 23 days. Up next up is John John Florence.
There were some concerns that the knee injury John John Florence suffered in May would keep him out of the Olympics.
But as the two-time world surfing champion showed in June, he was able to get back on the board and continue his run to Tokyo to compete in the sport that will be making its debut at the Games later this year.
So what should you know about the 28-year-old joining Kolohe Andino, Caroline Marks and Carissa Moore on Team USA? Here are five facts about the surfer who could end up with a medal by the end of the Games.
“To be honest with you, there definitely was some tension around the event. I definitely felt it,” Florence said.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world, two-time world champion surfer John John Florence found himself with unexpected free time on his hands.
In June of 2019, Florence was in a prime spot to contend for another world title when he blew out his ACL during the Oi Rio Pro in Saquarema, Brazil. The injury not only dashed his title hopes for the year, but threw into doubt his ability to land one of the two spots on the men’s US Olympic Surf Team.
The resulting comeback—from ACL surgery in just five months as well as a tense face off against all time great Kelly Slater for the final Olympic spot at Pipe Masters —is all documented in Florence’s new surf film, Tokyo Rising, which is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
The film offers a behind the scenes look at one of surfing’s most compelling storylines over the last year, and sheds some light on the relationship between Florence, currently the best male American surfer, and Slater, an all time great.
“My relationship with Kelly has always just been that he’s this person that I’ve always looked up to and gained inspiration from,” Florence said via phone from his home on Oahu’s North Shore. “Over the years I’ve tried to watch everything that he does. I was fortunate enough to meet him when I was very young and have gone and done some fun surf trips with him, which has been great.”
Slater won his first world title the year Florence was born, and still competes on the men’s championship tour regularly. The two aren’t necessarily rivals, but at the start of 2020, right before the pandemic shuttered world travel, Slater and Florence found themselves competing for the final spot on the Olympic team at the Pipe Masters. Florence was just recovering from his ACL surgery, and hadn’t even surfed Pipe before competition. Slater was coming off one of his worst tours in recent history, and needed to beat Florence’s points total (established before he blew out his knee) to gain an Olympic berth.
“To be honest with you, there definitely was some tension around the event. I definitely felt it,” Florence said.
Surfing has plenty of quirks, one being that competitors often use the same spaces to prep before heats. At Pipe, Florence and Slater both set up camp in the backyard of a mutual friend, which meant there was no real way to avoid each other.
“Kelly’s been going there for years, so he’d come into the yard for his heat, and it’s a good friend of ours,” Florence said. “I know he’s going to be there, so every time he walked in I kind of tensed up like, ohhh I’m just gonna act normal. Act normal! There’s nothing! Nothing’s happening!”
For his part, Slater admitted in the film there was some “uncomfortablity” between the two. While surfing prides itself on its collegial atmosphere, all that changes in the water.
“I’ve admired the surfers who can turn that on and off quickly. I’ve tried to do my best but sometimes it’s really hard. I was there for a goal, and I know Kelly’s there for his goal too, so you’re kind of…you have the understanding that we’re both competing that we’re both trying to do the best we can,” Florence said.
In the end, despite Slater pulling out a perfect 10 during the closing seconds of one of his heats, he was unable to finish above Florence in points. Florence ultimately snagged the final spot, joining American Kolohe Andino.
“I got a kick out of it,” Florence said. “[Slater] has been winning world titles since I was born, and he’s still competing as good as any other competitor on the Tour, getting 10s on the Pipeline Masters, which is very difficult to do. To me, it was kind of a dream in a way. to be competing against this guy who has been the best surfer in the world fro the past 25 years.”
Florence says the two have reached a friendly detente.
“He gave me a hug after and it was congratulations and stuff like that. Other than that, there wasn’t too much talk about the Olympics,” Florence said.
With his Olympic spot secure and the 2021 World Surf League season on the horizon Florence is nothing but stoked. You hear about people who are thriving during the pandemic and Florence is one of them. On Instagram, Florence can regularly been seen getting muddy at his farm, tending to his bee hive, or taking sailing trips around the Hawaiian islands. The time off has been a blessing in disguise for him.
“I’ve had so much time to get my knee to where I wanted it to be and, more importantly, I’ve had so much time to get my mind to where I wanted it to be, and just think about and find the why of why I wanted to compete,” Florence said. “I think change can be a good thing a lot of the time, you learn through change. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m very excited about competing again.”
