Yolanda Hopkins, the talented Portuguese surfer, finished her US Open journey in fifth place. Her run at the Huntington Beach event in the United States ended on Sunday in the quarter-finals. Still, she stood out as the top performer among the five Portuguese athletes competing.
The Portuguese Olympian scored 12.50 points on her two best waves, hitting 6.27 and 6.23. This was out of a possible 20 points. However, it wasn’t enough to beat Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri from Basque Country. Etxabarri posted a score of 12.93 points in their fourth quarter-final heat. This event was the third stop on the Challenger Series, which is a crucial path to reach the elite World Surf League (WSL) tour.
Hopkins truly shone brightest for Portugal in California. Her fellow surfer, Teresa Bonvalot, was knocked out earlier in the Round of 16. Francisca Veselko, Afonso Antunes, and Frederico Morais all saw their competition end in the initial rounds. The Lexus US Open of Surfing wrapped up that day in Huntington Beach, California, bringing an end to another exciting contest.