The ISA World Surfing Games are set to return to the French town of Biarritz for the first time since the historic edition in 1980.
Tom Curren won the World Junior Surfing Championship 37 years ago and went on to conquer three world titles in 1985, 1986, and 1990.
The American is the only surfer to be crowned world champion in the Junior (1980), Open (1982), and Masters (2011) divisions.
"I was really honored to get the invitation to be an Honorary Patron of the 2017 ISA World Surfing Games. I've spent a lot of time in Biarritz, so it means a lot to me. I have a lot of fond memories of my time in France. It gives me another reason to come back," explains Tom Curren.
This time, the event gets underway with the sport included in the Tokyo 2020 program. There will be 38 nations competing in the waves of multiple beach breaks of Biarritz.
Miguel Pupo, Wiggolly Dantas, Jeremy Flores, and Johanne Defay are some of the names that will represent their countries in the race for gold, silver, and bronze medals.
"The ISA World Surfing Games is an excellent platform to display the world-class waves and beauty of France's southwest coastline. We look forward to hosting the best surfers in the world and potentially the sport's first ever Olympians at what will be a wonderful festival of surfing," says Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association.
The Olympic Channel will live stream the 2017 ISA World Surfing Games from May 20-28, in Biarritz, France.