Costa Rican surfer Leilani McGonagle won the bronce medal in the ISA World Surfing Games in France.

McGonagle earned her pass to the semifinals yesterday, and competed early this morning to take the first place in her heat, getting to the finals where she faced Bianca Buitendag from South Africa and locals Pauline Ado and Johanne Defay.

Ado took the gold with a score of 12.17 points, followed by Johanne Defay with the silver with 10.43 and McGonagle won bronze with a score of 8.4.

“This is less than what I wanted, I wanted to do represent my country in the best way possible, I was going for the gold, I wasn’t able to get it this time, but it will come”, stated Leilani after the competition.

The 17-year-old surfer is the best international surfer in Costa Rica.

The male competition kicked-off today With Anthony Fillingim and Jair Cruz winning the first positions of their heats in the first round. Fillingim faced competitors from Switzerland, Germany and Wales; while Cruz took on athletes from Turkey, Germany and Switzerland. Cruz also took the best score for an individual wave 8.93 for the day and the best general score for the day with 15.26.

The other two male representatives of the Costa Rica National Surfing Team, Jason Torres and Leonardo Calvo will compete for the first time tomorrow.

The competition can be enjoyed live on: www.ISAworlds.com