The Olympic surfing competition is set to kick off shortly!
However, it remains to be seen whether the Australian surfers competing this year will be able to follow in the footsteps of bronze medallist Owen Wright, who secured Australia’s first (and only) Olympic medal in the sport in 2020 – which was also the same year surfing made its Olympic debut.
Four years ago, Sally Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Gilmore, and Julian Wilson joined Owen in the waters of Tsurigasaki Beach in Japan, but this year four new athletes have qualified to take to the waters in the French territory of Tahiti.
Who is on the Australian Olympic surfing team?
This year, all four members of the Australian surfing team for the Paris 2024 Olympics are making their Olympic debut: Tyler Wright, Molly Picklum, Jack Robinson, and Ethan Ewing.
The Australian surfers provisionally secured their places in the Olympic surfing tournament by finishing in the World Surf League’s top five end-of-season rankings in 2023. Fast forward to February this year, and they officially confirmed their spots after their top-tier performances in the 2024 World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico.
Confirming the Australian surfing team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in mid-May, Australia’s Olympic team Chef de Mission Anna Meares said the foursome had “already shown they are among the best surfers in the world.”
“Congratulations as well to the team at Surfing Australia and the coaches, family members, and supporters that have helped these four athletes achieve this Olympic milestone,” she added.
Where is Olympic surfing taking place?
Given Paris doesn’t have any surf breaks of its own, the Olympic surfing tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games will take place almost 16,000 kilometres away in Teahupo’o, Tahiti in French Polynesia.
Notorious for its heavy, glassy waves offshore, which often reach between 6.6 and 9.8 feet tall, the 48 Olympic surfers in the competition are sure to have their work cut out for them.
In comparison, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, competitors surfed waves that ranged between 3 and 4 feet tall.
Professional surfing fans may also recognise the location from the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, World Championship Tour, or International Bodyboarding Association World Tour.
For the course of the Olympic Games, the surfers will be staying on a luxury cruise ship that has been dubbed the “first-ever floating Olympic village.”
How does the Olympic surfing tournament work?
In both the men’s and women’s Olympic surfing tournaments, 24 athletes will compete.
The initial rounds will see the athletes group into heats of four to five competitors, the best then moving forward to the main rounds, In this part of the competition, there are then two-person heats where the winner advances to the next round and the loser is eliminated.
Each heat is approximately 30 minutes long.
Five expert judges judge each wave the surfers ride out of ten after considering factors such as degree of difficulty, variety, and a combination of maneuvers with speed, power, and flow.
The Olympic surfing tournament for 2024 will take place between Sunday, July 28, and Wednesday, July 31st.
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