Costa Rican surfer Brisa Hennessy has reached the quarterfinals of the women’s shortboard at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Costa Rican had a score of 12.00 and beat Ella Williams of New Zealand, who scored 7.73. This result places Hennessy, 21, among the final eight competitors.
“A surreal day getting the privilege to represent my home country of Costa Rica, my village of support and the sport of surfing for the first time in Olympics history,” Hennessy shared on social media.
“Onto Round 3, heat 3! Thank you for all the messages, it truly means so much.”
Hennessy will compete for a spot in the semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m. CST. Her rival will be Caroline Marks from the United States or Mahina Maeda from Japan.
The Games are broadcast by Repretel in Costa Rica and NBC in the United States.
The Olympics surfing events are held at Tsurigasaki Beach, about 100 km from the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. The beach is located in the town of Ichinomiya, on the Pacific Coast in Chiba prefecture.
This year represents the first time surfing has been included at the Olympics.
“It still feels so surreal, I’ve been pinching myself every day,” Hennessy told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s been a dream walking amongst the best athletes in the world. An opportunity and experience of a lifetime.”
