Soon-to-be Olympic newcomer JJ Rice dies at 18 after tragic accident

Just weeks before he was due to represent Tonga at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, relatives of 18-year-old JJ Rice confirmed his death in a horrific freediving accident over the weekend.

Rice, an American-born kitefoiler who was set to make his Olympic debut in the new Olympic sport in early August, was believed to have suffered a shallow water blackout – an often fatal situation in which a diver loses consciousness in shallow water.

Although Rice was born in America, he grew up in Tonga, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, where his parents own and operate a tourist hostel, reported TongaHe would have been the first white man to represent Tonga at the Olympic Games.

The father of the young athlete told Matangi The tragic accident occurred on Saturday and resuscitation attempts failed. A blackout in shallow water is often more fatal than typical drowning cases because the brains of the victims, often freedivers, have already been exposed to severely reduced oxygen levels for a long period of time.

Rice's sister Lily posted a heartbreaking tribute to her brother on Facebook, calling him “the greatest brother in the world,” adding that he was destined to leave the Olympics with a “big, shiny medal and an even bigger smile.”

“The last time I saw him, he gave me a big hug and I wish I had held on longer,” she said.

Although he is a naturalized Tongan, Matangi reported that Rice was proud to represent his new nation. Since kitefoiling is an individual sport, he could have chosen to represent the U.S., but said he wanted to bring Olympic glory home to the small archipelago of 106,000 people.

Rice’s father said he saved “many lives” when he was 15 and told Matangi that he helped rescue 18 people from a capsized ferry. On another occasion, the grieving father recalls, Rice once swam behind a sandbar to rescue two girls who had been swum out to sea.

“He made so many amazing friends all over the world because he was so lovely and they will all miss him very much,” Lily said.

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