John John Florence Sails On: No 2027 Tour, No LA 2028

The three-time world champion will not return to the Championship Tour in 2027, which all but ends his shot at the LA 2028 Olympics. He is sailing on.

WSL news

John John Florence will not be back on the Championship Tour in 2027. The three-time world champion told ESPN he is extending his sailing sabbatical for another year, and in doing so he has all but closed the door on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

No wildcard, no 2027 tour

Florence won his third world title in 2024, then stepped off the tour to sail around the world with his wife, Lauryn, and their young son, Darwin, aboard their catamaran, Vela. He sat out 2025 and 2026. The WSL kept the door open with a season wildcard for 2027, but Florence did not apply for it before the 1 November deadline.

He says the call came after weeks of thinking it over, including a long, demanding passage of around 2,200 nautical miles from French Polynesia toward New Zealand. The route took the family from the Caribbean to French Polynesia and on towards New Zealand. His explanation was simple: "We need more time. There's a lot of momentum with what I'm doing now." He also told ESPN he likes to plan his life in roughly three-year blocks, and that he does not yet know what 2028 holds.

Why it ends his Olympic run

Florence surfed for the USA at both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, so LA 2028, at home in the US, looked like a natural last chapter. The problem is the qualifying system. The main route is the Championship Tour: the top eight men and women on the CT rankings between 15 August 2027 and 15 June 2028 qualify, with one place per country. Skipping 2027 takes him out of that race.

The backup route runs through the ISA World Surfing Games, but USA Surfing picks its teams for those events using CT rankings. As The Inertia worked through the rules, a surfer who is out sailing in 2027 has no realistic path to selection. Unless Florence changes his mind, the 2028 Games will be the first Olympic surfing event without him.

That stings for the people who hoped a home Olympics would bring him back. Florence finished ninth at both of his Olympic Games so far, and Kelly Slater told ESPN he thinks a gold medal could still motivate him. "If I could trade a world title for a gold medal, I would," Slater said.

Why the boat wins

None of this came out of nowhere. Back in March, when he confirmed he was sitting out 2026 and launched his Vela series, Florence told Stab how the first year at sea had changed him: "I just felt so deeply happy out there, surfing perfect waves." The draw is the empty waves the boat can reach. As he put it to Tracks, "I love surfing waves in the middle of nowhere."

He also told ESPN he had tried to get a wildcard into this year's Tahiti Pro, but the spot went to Kelly Slater instead.

Not quite retirement

Florence is keen to stress this is not a farewell. He has spoken about how much he respects the athletes and the tour, and he admits he misses the intense preparation that comes with chasing a title. He has not ruled out a future return.

And he may still turn up where it matters most. Florence has said he would like a wildcard into the Pipe Masters in December, the title-deciding finale of the 2026 season. His last WSL contest was a QS event at Pipeline last December, and he remains one of the most dangerous surfers on earth in heavy barrels. If the WSL hands him a spot, he could shape the world title race without being on tour. We covered who is in that race in Who can win the 2026 world title at Pipe.

The record

World champion: 2016, 2017 and 2024
Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational winner: the 2015–16 event, run in February 2016
Pipe Masters champion: 2023
Five-time Triple Crown of Surfing champion
Olympian: Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024

Our take

Florence has never been driven by contest results the way many of his rivals are, and he still won three world titles. Choosing a family, a boat and empty waves over one more Olympic shot is about as John John as it gets. For surfers watching from the Mediterranean, where a lot of us juggle surf around family and work, it is hard not to respect the choice.