By The Canadian Press on October 30, 2023.
SANTIAGO, Chile – Canadian surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin qualified for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris by reaching the Pan American Games women’s shortboard final Monday. The 18-year-old from Tofino, B.C., posted scores of 4.50 on her first wave and 5.50 on her second to win the bronze-medal heat 10-4.20 over Leilani McGonagle of Costa Rica. Dempfle-Olin advanced to the gold-medal round against Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb. 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. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023. 7