Surfer in denim shorts defies passport theft and hurricane to win on borrowed board
- Italo Ferreira needed to compete to be eligible for Tokyo 2020
- Arrived just in time and won heat wearing denim shorts
Robbed of his passport in the USA, delayed by a hurricane as he entered Japan, Italo Ferreira’s Olympic dream looked to have been wiped out by a series of unfortunate events as he attempted to get to the the ISA World Games in Miyazaki. But having wrestled his way through red tape and raced to the beach – where he arrived nine minutes before the expiry time for his scheduled slot – Ferreira grabbed a borrowed boar and won his heat wearing denim shots.
When I landed at the airport, I ran: I dropped my bags and went straight to the car