Even at 47, surfers are still pretty fired up when they beat Kelly Slater. He’s the GOAT. It’s like when a defender held Jordan or Kobe to 10 points, no matter how old they were. Or beating Lebron in a playoff game. There’s just something sweeter about taking down an all-timer.
And Leo Fioravanti has had a hectic year. Italy’s favorite surfer dislocated his shoulder in March, then again at the Margaret River Pro and opted for surgery. This is all part of a larger, injury-plagued career for the Italian Stallion, that included suffering a broken back at Pipeline as a 17-year-old. You can see his buzzer-beater to take down the GOAT in this quick recap and his first contest back. Leo was understandably stoked. That’s a whole lot of emotion coming out after a string of setbacks.
As for Kelly, this is another loss in the Round of 32 which definitely doesn’t help his Olympic qualification bid as he still trails Kolohe Andino (who faces Yago Dora next) and one John John Florence. You can peep the results of the Quik Pro France, here.
