In act of pure benevolence, Japanese heartthrob Kanoa Igarashi gifts blueprint for beating fear at “big and scary” Teahupo’o to current world champ Filipe Toledo!

Surprise tips!

The 2024 Olympics are coming and, with them, the opportunity for athletes who toil at less popular sports like badminton, synchronized swimming and surfing a chance to shine on a global stage. While the bulk of games will be played in Paris, the surfing will be offloaded to French Polynesia and its glorious “Place of Broken Skulls.”

It will be surfing’s second Olympic running. The summer before last, brave men and women paddled out into two-foot Japanese beachbreak in order to showcase skill and thrill. Teahupo’o, there at the end of the road, serves up a different sort of challenge.

Namely, big scary.

Surfing’s first silver medalist, the heartthrob Kanoa Igarashi, recently sat down with Japan’s Kyodo News to discuss how he would go about the business at hand, saying, “The first time I was there, I felt very scared. I stayed for a week but could only catch a few waves. But…I made myself promise to make riding those kind of waves my strength. It became a project. It was pretty much always tough…but in the last couple of years I am finding it much more comfortable. I’m more confident now riding there.”

Ahhhh and what a benevolent gift.

As you know, surfing’s current champion, Filipe Toledo, has a distinct aversion to Teahupo’o, famously refusing to paddle for waves during two separate contests. If things continue the way they are, though, he will have to face fear and drop himself over the ledge. Lower Trestles, you see, is not an 2024 Olympic back-up site. There will be no final five.

But look, again, at Igarashi’s secret advice to Toledo. Making a project of riding big ledgy lefts.

Exactly like equally helpful BeachGrit tried to make happen five-ish years ago.

Benevolence all around. Benevolence and good cheer.