Interview: John John Florence Shares Excitement Over 2024 Olympic Outlook
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are a little more than five months away, and while John John Florence's immediate focus is on the Pipe Pro, which could kick off as early as tomorrow if conditions on the North Shore can pull together, there's a little twinkle in his eye that reveals he's starting to get excited about competing for a gold medal at Teahupo'o in Tahiti this July.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated's FanNation last week, Florence admitted this is a big year for him. The challenges of competing for a world title and gold medal over the course of the next eight months are not lost on him, but he's leaning into the belief that by staying in competitive rhythm is the way to go.
"I think doing the tour and the Olympics complement each other in a way," Florence explains. "I think the tour complements the Olympics because you're just in that competitive mindset. Once you're in it and you get comfortable surfing heats again, it's hard when you take a month or two away from surfing heats and you kinda get back into it."
In terms of the Olympic venue, Florence has a different perspective than most surfers in the world.
"For the most part, Chopes is a pretty simple wave to compete at, in a general sense. It's like, takeoff, get barreled and come out," he smiles.
Easier said than done, but you get the idea. And when it comes to the potential impact the Olympics could have on surfing, Florence perks up.
"It the waves are pumping, it will be pretty awesome for surfing," he believes.
Seems like a pretty safe bet to the crew here at FanNation. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Florence over the next few days.
Interview: Why 2x World Champion Filipe Toledo Is Betting On Himself In 2024
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.