Just weeks before he was set to represent Tonga in the Paris 2024 Olympics, loved ones of 18-year-old JJ Rice confirmed his death during a horrific free diving accident over the weekend.
Rice, an American-born kitefoiler who was slated to make his Olympic debut for the new Olympic sport in early August, is believed to have suffered from shallow water blackout—an often fatal situation where a diver loses consciousness in shallow water.
Despite being born in America, Rice was raised in Tonga, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean where his parents own and operate a tourist lodge, reported Matangi Tonga. He would have been the first caucasian to represent Tonga in an Olympic Games.
