Yet another achievement for 25-year-old Algarve surfer
Algarve surfer Yolanda Hopkins has added another impressive achievement to her fantastic career, having been crowned Europe’s surfing champion for the second year straight last weekend.
Her second European title was confirmed at the Caparica Surf Fest, the last stage of the European circuit of the 2023-2024 World Surf League, with a second-place finish.
In the final, another Portuguese surfer Teresa Bonvalot came out on top, with a 13.13-point score against Yolanda Hopkins’ 8.66.
Both surfers have secured qualification for the Challenger Series (CS), the ‘second division’ of international surfing, which serves as qualification for the Championship Tour (CT).
Yolanda Hopkins and Teresa Bonvalot will also be representing Portugal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, with hopes of bringing home an Olympic medal.
At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Yolanda Hopkins was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the first-ever Olympic surfing competition. This time, she hopes the outcome will be different.
“I really want to win a medal this time,” she said after securing qualification for this year’s Olympics, adding: “I want the gold, of course. I always aim high.”
Yolanda, born in Faro in 1998 to English and Portuguese parents, has been an avid surfer since the tender age of eight and has slowly but steadily become one of the Algarve’s most successful athletes.
