Spanish surfing, one step away from World Cup medals: 4th Nadia Erostarbe and 6th Andy Criere

He Spanish surfing closed this Sunday in Puerto Rico a unique World Cup. He did it, by a hair’s breadth, without a prize medal, but with great results in just four months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Nadia Erostarbe was fourth after fighting for the podium and Andy Criere was sixth to close out the championship this Sunday.

In recent days nothing less than three Olympic passesbecause the achievements of Aerostarb and by Cryer joins the acquired by Janire Gonzalez. It was already out of contention for Saturday’s medals, with Erostarbe advancing to the top6 and Criere to the top8.

Erostarbe made it all the way to the finals of the World Cup on Sunday. In the sixth round of the main draw, the one before the fight for the medals, Erostarbe needed to get the top 2 to advance directly to the series that distributed the podium positions. That was it, because with 10.67 points she finished second behind Frenchwoman Johanne Defay to enter the fight for the world’s top four.

However, in it, he did not get into the podium positions. At 9.57 points, it was surpassed Australian Sally Fitzgibbons, champion with 13.10, Brazilian Tatiana Weston Webb (12.24) and Defay himself (12.00). Its three rivals were able to catch high-level waves early, forcing Erostarbe to go against the current and try again and again.

However, in a system where the two best waves of each competitor scored, the high level of waves did not reach Erostarbe, which remained at 4.90 and 4.67 compared to rivals that reached six points. Fitzgibbons won with 6.83 and 6.27, while Weston Webb scored 6.77 and 5.47. Defay missed the podium by millimeters after two waves of exactly six points.

So, Erostarbe finished fourth in a championship where Spain, as a team, finished third among women, the same achieved by men for one fourth place overall for both sexes through sets. This is before some Games where Erostarbe will come with great sensations after a historic World Cup. He will join them with Janire González.

Andy Criere, sixth in the world

One step away from also fighting for medals, he stayed Andy Criere, who started the day in the eleventh and penultimate repechage of the men’s team with the need to advance two rounds to reach the final. He got past the first one, but fell in the twelfth repechage to stay one step away from the top4.

Criere took second place in a tight first series of the day. In it he achieved 9.90 points, which made him surpass the 9.63 added by Indonesian Rio Waida. At the front, Moroccan Ramzi Boukhiam won with 12.33 to advance with the Spaniard to the final repechage, with the top 6 secured and in search of two tickets for the final.

However, he has yet to find good waves there. Criere, who saw how his rivals distanced themselves and there is no option to engage in combat. With 5.17 points, she was surpassed by Boukhiam’s 14.34, who went into the final with Frenchman Joan Duru, second with 13.10. Peruvian Alonso Correa clocked 10.04 and finished fifth in the world.

Already in the top4, without the presence of Spanish, the Brazilian Gabriel Medina, who had a brilliant World Cup, with great superiority in all rounds, climbed to 16.40 points to be proclaimed universal champion with total authority. Boukhiam took silver with 15.34 and France got third place from Kauli Vaast (14.33) and fourth from Duru (7.10). It ended a championship where Spanish surfing, less than five months before the Paris Games (in Tahiti will be the competition of this sport) put in a great performance after going all the way fighting for the podium positions.