Teresa Bonvalot saw, this Wednesday, her presence confirmed at the start of the season at the World Surf League World Surfing Tour, which will take place in 10 days in Hawaii.
The national champion benefited from the withdrawal of one of the representatives of the female world elite to enjoy the status of the first alternate of the World Tour 2023.
The revelation was made by the World Surf League through social networks, with Teresa Bonvalot being announced as a substitute for the Frenchwoman Johanne Defay, who is injured. Thus, the Portuguese surfer will be one of the 16 surfers competing in Pipeline, from the 29th of January to the 10th of February.
Teresa Bonvalot already knows the provisional layout of the heats, having been placed in heat 2, where she has the company of two Hawaiians: the five-time world champion and Olympic champion Carissa Moore and Bettylou Sakura Johnson – the heats may still undergo changes in case of more dropouts.
In addition to guaranteeing entry to the Pipeline stage, which marks the opening of the season, Teresa is also confirmed for the second stage of the year, which takes place in February in Sunset Beach, also in Hawaii.
“I am very happy to be able to participate in these first two races of the year”, began by saying, Teresa. “As this vacancy depended on other surfers being injured – and I don’t wish anyone any harm – I didn’t have high expectations to join, but it ended up happening. I tried to do my part last year, I was on the verge of qualifying and with this substitute status. I will use this opportunity as a way of learning to be with the best surfers in the world and gain even more experience”, she promised.
After the two Hawaiian stages, the circuit heads to Portugal, in March, where Teresa may also have legitimate hopes of competing. Then, until the cut that marks the middle of the season, the circuit still passes through Bells Beach and Margaret River, in Australia.
If she manages to enter more stages, Teresa Bonvalot will have real possibilities of trying to discuss her presence in the world top 10 in the first half of the season and qualify for the second half of the season and, consequently, qualify for the 2024 World Tour. Furthermore, a good position in the ranking could earn Teresa one of the six Olympic spots up for grabs on this year’s world tour.
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