The Billabong Pro, Rio marks the return of professional surfing to one of the world’s most popular and celebrated cities. This, the first of three webisodes to be released in coming days, focuses on the destination and features breathtaking aerial footage of Rio’s beautiful beaches, famous landmarks and the city’s unmistakable city scape.
Webepisode 1
Webepisode 2
Webepisode 3
The Billabong Pro, Rio men’s division is the third of 11 events on the 2011 ASP World Tour and will see the sport’s top 32 rated surfers plus four wildcards vying for $500,000 prize money and 10,000 valuable world title ratings points.
Ten-time World Champion, Kelly Slater (USA) is in familiar territory, the Floridian leads the men’s ratings heading into the Billabong Pro with Australian Joel Parkinson in second and South African Jordy Smith, third.
The ASP Women’s World Tour event stars the top 17 rated female surfers in the world, plus one wildcard and has $120,000 in prize money up for grabs. A good result here for the top-rated women may seal the deal on the 2011 world title.