Bianca Buitendag, a skilled surfer, breaks through to the quarter-finals of the Olympics with her hard work and perseverance.
Tokyo, Japan (26 July 2021) – South Africa has been setting its bars high this year at the Tokyo Olympics, with its back-to-back qualifiers in most of the sports under the Olympics. Adding to that statement, Bianca Buitendag, a 27-year-old surfer from South Africa, has qualified as a quarterfinalist after beating the seven-time world championship winner Stephanie Gilmore, proving that experience will never be an obstacle for a mind with perseverance and hard work.
Today, the two had faced an intense competition against each other at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, which lasted for three rounds, after which Buitendag was declared the qualifier to the quarter-finals.
With 7.10 in the first wave and 6.83 in the second wave to total 13.93, she was up by 3.93 points than Gilmore, leaving the spectators in awe. As a first-time competitor, she had to go up against a champion. When asked how she felt about that, she answered humbly that she felt free because she had ‘nothing to lose.’ She stated that her calculations about the intensity of the waves and the wave selections had led her to succeed in that round. Her humility and perseverance keep increasing with the heights she is reaching.
Following this, it was announced that she will be competing against Yolanda Hopkins of Portugal on Tuesday (02:24 SA time) in the quarter-finals. With high hopes and a clear mind, she is looking forward to making her country proud by achieving more.
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