Leilani McGonagle (born 14 November 1999) is a Costa Rican professional surfer who competes in the

World Surf League The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional ...

. Her brother Noe Mar McGonagle is also a professional surfer.

Early life

She was born to American father and British mother. She was identified to be diagnosed with

scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...

after her birth. Before she could walk, her parents pushed her into her first wave. Her father was also a surfer who grew up engaging in the sport of

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

. Her father later moved from United States to Costa Rica after finishing his studies at the high school.

Career

During her junior career, she emerged as a North American junior champion. She was adjudged as the Surfer of the Year at the Costa Rica Surfing Awards in 2016 and 2017. She qualified to the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

following her performance at the

2021 ISA World Surfing Games The 2021 ISA World Surfing Games took place across the La Bocana and El Sunzal waves at Surf City in El Salvador, from 29 May to 6 June 2021. The event was originally scheduled to be held from 9 to 17 May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID- ...

. Incidentally, surfing was included for the first time in Olympics for the Tokyo Games. She dedicated her Olympic qualification achievement to her friend and Salvadoran surfer Katherine Díaz Hernández who died in early 2021 due to lightning. She represented Costa Rica at the 2020 Summer Olympics which also marked her debut appearance at the Olympics. She was eliminated from the round 2 of the women's shortboard event.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGonagle, Leilani 1999 births Living people Costa Rican surfers World Surf League surfers Surfers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic surfers for Costa Rica Costa Rican people of American descent Costa Rican female surfers People from Puntarenas Province