1 · Ramzi Boukhiam: From Agadir to the World Surf League — A Breakthrough 2024 Season
Birthplace: Agadir, Morocco | Born: 14 Sept 1993 | Stance: Goofy
Ramzi Boukhiam opened 2024 by cracking the World Surf League Championship Tour full-time roster and wasted no time making headlines. A quarter-final showdown win over 11-time world champ Kelly Slater at the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro cemented his nickname “the Moroccan hammer”—coined by commentators for his back-hand power.
He then finished 9th at the Surf City El Salvador Pro and, despite a rib injury that forced withdrawals at Margaret River and Bells, sits inside the CT mid-season cut for the first time. Boukhiam credits his surge to longer Hawaiian off-seasons and a refined twin-step pop-up that plants weight on his front foot faster on heavy reef waves.
I’m representing Africa on the CT and want every kid in Agadir to believe they belong here too.
— Ramzi Boukhiam, March 2024
Key 2024 CT Results
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Tahiti Pro — 3rd (defeated Slater in quarter-final)
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El Salvador Pro — 9th
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Pipe Pro — 17th
2 · Silver in Puerto Rico: How Ramzi Boukhiam Made Moroccan Surf History
At the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Boukhiam stormed to the silver medal—Morocco’s first podium finish at the event. His 16.34-point semi-final heat, built on a disappearing-section backside tube, stood as the second-highest score of the contest.
The result automatically qualified him for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and vaulted Team Morocco to eighth on the national leaderboard.
Men’s Final Results
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John John Florence (HAW) — 17.20
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Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) — 15.43
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Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) — 14.66
Moroccan federation president Mohamed Kadiri called the medal “a watershed moment proving Atlantic swells can forge world-class athletes.”
3 · Inside Ramzi Boukhiam’s Training Regimen: Power, Precision & Moroccan Roots
Boukhiam’s off-season base is a converted farmhouse gym outside Taghazout. Sessions mix traditional strength work with sand-dune sprints and tahtib (North-African stick-fighting) footwork drills to sharpen hip rotation.
| Day | Focus | Sample Session |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Paddle endurance | 10 × 150 m intervals (pool) |
| Tuesday | Lower-body power | Trap-bar deadlifts 4×6 @ 170 kg |
| Wednesday | Mobility & yoga | 60 min vinyasa flow |
| Thursday | Surf – Anchor Point | 3 h rail-torque drills |
| Friday | Sprint & agility | 5 × 40 m dune sprints |
| Saturday | Recovery | Ice-bath + myofascial release |
Nutrition staples: argan-oil omelettes, fresh sardines, and amlou (almond-honey spread). His only supplement? Beet-root juice shots for natural nitric-oxide boost.
4 · Olympic Dreams Reloaded: Boukhiam’s Road to Paris 2024 at Teahupoʻo
Surfing’s Olympic venue moves from Japan to Teahupoʻo, Tahiti, one of the world’s heaviest reef passes. Boukhiam hired Tahitian legend Raimana Van Bastolaer for line-up intel and ordered boards 1/8-inch thicker to handle below-sea-level drops.
Goals for Paris 2024 (27 July – 5 Aug)
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Crack the top 8 (he reached Round 3 in Tokyo 2020).
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Fly the Moroccan flag on Finals Day for the first time.
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Inspire funding for a national high-performance center in Agadir.
Qualification is locked via his 2024 ISA silver—so now it’s all about dialing equipment, reef knowledge, and heat strategy.
5 · Mentoring the Next Generation: Ramzi Boukhiam’s Impact on North-African Surf Culture
When not competing, Boukhiam runs free weekend clinics at Panorama Beach, Taghazout. Since 2019, the Ramzi Boukhiam Surf Academy has distributed over 300 soft-tops to under-12 groms in Agadir Province.
Core Initiatives
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Girls In Waves — partners with ASF to supply wetsuits + transport for young female surfers.
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Scholarship Board Fund — covers QS travel costs for standout juniors.
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Surf & Study Tent — mandatory homework hour before each ocean session.
Graduates like 15-year-old Sofia Tazi already podium at African grom comps, citing Ramzi as “proof you can come from Morocco and beat the world.”