Surfer Kanoa Igarashi said he intends to ride the momentum of last season all the way to a ride at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when the 2019 World Surf League's Men's Championship Tour begins next Wednesday in Australia with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.
"This is a really important season," Igarashi said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "I feel the Olympics getting closer every day when I wake up."
Igarashi, whose parents moved to California before he was born and raised him on the waves of Huntington Beach, switched his competitive nationality last year in a bid to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Games, where surfing will make its Olympic debut.