Connor O’Leary Will Choose To Represent Japan On The WSL 2024 Tour
Credit: Connor O'Leary on Instagram
World Surf League Championship Tour member Connor O’Leary will be making a change next season. The multi-year tour veteran will be choosing to represent Japan next year when he graces the water. O’Leary was representing Australia for the past several years on tour but will be making the switch next season. He took to his social media to explain why he is choosing to switch things up.
“I’m excited to announce that in 2024 I will be representing Japan on the WSL World Tour,” he wrote on Instagram. “I will also seek representation for Japan at the Paris 2024 Olympics by competing in the next ISA World Surfing Games. After much reflection and consideration I am choosing Japan. I’m choosing to represent my family’s heritage, and my cultural background. The decision was made internally back in October 2022 and it has been a challenging process to complete the transfer of nations. I am happy it is final and I can officially share it with you all. It feels right so let’s go!! Excited for what’s to come.”
Connor O’Leary will look to make the 2024 Olympic Games for Team Japan
Why does this switch have such an impact in the grand scheme of things? With the 2024 Paris Games coming up next summer, athletes around the world are beginning to qualify for the Summer Games. Already a few surfers have provisionally qualified for the Olympic Games due to their placing in the 2023 CT. Each country will send two men and two women to the Games, with the host country provisionally adding two more.
If O’Leary is representing Australia, he would not get a ticket to the games as he finished 11th in the 2023 rankings and is the fourth-best Australian man. As a representative of Japan, he would be the highest-ranked Japanese man on the CT above Kanoa Igarashi on the current standings. Things still need to fall into place a bit more before all Olympic spots are filled, but this change could get O’Leary on the wave in Tahiti next summer.
