Kanoa Igarashi’s Olympic Test Run at Teahupo’o

Kanoa Igarashi and Teahupo’o are a perplexing combo if you ask me. Plenty of surfers have narratives that follow them with certain waves. Maybe it’s their style, their competitive track record, or just their obvious strengths or weaknesses that make them clear favorites or clear underdogs when matched up with a location. Gabriel Medina has been to a semifinal at Teahupo’o nearly every year for the past decade. Filipe Toledo can’t seem to make it out of a heat (although technically, he did that one time…) at places like Chopes or Pipe. Meanwhile, Kelly Slater can’t get out of a heat unless it’s at a big barreling wave.

Igarashi, however, owes both one of the biggest highlights of his CT career and some of his worst results to the End of the Road. But you still probably wouldn’t count him out at Teahupo’o during this summer’s Olympics, would you?

In 2022, Igarashi sat and waited for the wave of the day in a heat against Jadson Andre. He pulled out a clutch 9.70 in the Tahiti Pro that elevated him into a top-five ranking and officially knocked Griffin Colapinto out of the race. It was a dramatic and exciting moment provided by the existence of the WSL Finals format that plenty of fans have hated since its introduction. That contest was also Igarashi’s best result at Teahupo’o since joining the CT — one in which he was eliminated the very next round by Miguel Pupo.  In 2023, Igarashi left Teahupo’o after the Elimination Round. In May, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist was eliminated in the Round of 16 in Tahiti without completing a wave. The .93 heat total was a surprisingly low score for a guy who once felt like he had a sixth sense for sitting on priority and finding exactly what he needed in order to advance.

With all that in mind, Igarashi’s latest Eye of the Storm turned the camera on his time in Tahiti. It’s tough to argue his track record at Teahupo’o. It hasn’t been stellar. Then again, he pulled that rabbit out of a hat in 2022 and punched a ticket to Finals Day.

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