Japanese Kanoa Igarashi has just been officially announced by the WSL as having qualified for Tokyo 2020. Regardless of how the rest of the competitors finish in this and the next stage in Hawaii, the Japanese will be at the Olympics in his country next year.

Igarashi was interviewed live during the ongoing MEO Rip Curl Pro and said that after a long year the news leaves him speechless and that he can't wait to tell his friends and family.

“I’m glad that everything went well and that we have this new milestone in our careers,” Iagarashi said. “I’m happy to be part of a huge moment for our sport.”

RELATED NOTE: The list of potential and confirmed qualifiers as of today

Igarashi, who was coming off the worst two results of her year in France and at Slater's pool, came through her Round 1 heat in Portugal in second place.

The qualification of a Japanese athlete on his own, according to the regulations, opens up one more space in the 2020 World Surfing Games, in which there will now be five slots for men to qualify for the games.