Sanoa Dempfle-Olin of Canada competes in the shortboard women's surfing final during the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in Pichilemu, Chile on Monday, Oct.30, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS-HO-Pan Am Games-Jorge Loyola **MANDATORY CREDIT**
SANTIAGO, Chile – Canadian surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin qualified for next summer’s Olympic Games by reaching the Pan American Games women’s final Monday.
The 18-year-old from Tofino, B.C., won her semifinal heat 10-4.20 over Leilani McGonagle of Costa Rica. Dempfle-Olin finished with a silver medal. She was beaten 12.33-10.13 by Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb for gold.
Dempfle-Olin’s Olympic qualification is provisional upon her competing in the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico.
Canada didn’t have a surfer in the sport’s Olympic debut in Tokyo two years ago. Dempfle-Olin’s older sister Mathea won Pan Am Games bronze in Lima, Peru in 2019.
Vancouver’s Spencer Finn earned a bronze medal in men’s standup paddleboard (SUP) surfing at Punta de Lobos southwest of Chile’s host city Santiago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.
