For just the second time in history, surfing will hit the Olympics in 2024, and the quality of wave it takes place on will likely be a hell of a lot better than the first time around. With the 2020 games being held in Japan options were relatively limited, and Tsurigasaki Beach didn’t exactly dish up the world class waves we so often see on the Championship Tour. But with Paris this year’s host, there are a few more options – albeit obviously not in Paris. France is home to plenty of quality waves, not least in the south west where the beach breaks around Hossegor dish out curling pits that look like they were created by a machine, but in summer time the reliability of these breaks is close to zero. As a result, the qualified surfers will instead fly around the world to the French colony of Tahiti to take on one of the heaviest waves in the world; Teahupo’o.
It was just a couple of months ago that the Championship Tour visited this iconic wave, and it dished up some of the best waves that we have seen on tour for a couple of years. Still well and truly within swell season, there is a good chance that we will again get some quality barrels during the 27th July-5th August waiting period for the world’s best surfers, 48 of whom will head to the contest to compete for the second ever Gold Medal in surfing.
Who will be surfing at the 2024 Olympic Games?
Brazil
- Gabriel Medina
- Filipe Toledo
- João Chianca
- Tatiana Weston-Webb
- Luana Silva
- Taina Hinckel
USA
- Carissa Moore
- Caroline Marks
- Caity Simmers
- Griffin Colapinto
- John John Florence
Japan
- Kanoa Igarashi
- Connor O’Leary
- Shino Matsuda
- Reo Inaba
France
- Johanne Defay
- Vahine Fierro
- Joan Duru
- Kauli Vaast
Australia
- Molly Picklum
- Tyler Wright
- Ethan Ewing
- Jack Robinson
Spain
- Janire Gonzalez-Extabarri
- Nadia Erostarbe
- Andy Criere
South Africa
- Jordy Smith
- Matthew McGillivray
- Sarah Baum
Peru
- Luca Mesinas
- Sol Aguirre
- Alonso Correa
Portugal
- Yolanda Sequeira
- Terea Bonvalot
New Zealand
- Saffi Vette
- Billy Stairmand
Germany
- Camilla Kemp
- Tim Elter
Canada
- Sanoa Dempfle-Olin
China
- Siqi Yang
Costa Rica
- Brisa Hennessy
El Salvador
- Bryan Perez
Indonesia
- Rio Waida
Israel
- Anat Lelior
Italy
- Leonardo Fiorivanti
Mexico
- Alan Cleland Jr
Morocco
- Ramzi Boukhiam
Nicaragua
- Candelaria Resano
What is the format for surfing at the 2024 Olympics?
We’ve all become pretty well acquainted with the format on the Championship Tour, with three-person Opening Heats, from which the loser is sent to a three-person Elimination Heat, followed by two-person knockout heats thereafter. Good news – the Olympics will keep it simple by following a very similar format, albeit with different names for each stage of the contest.
Round 1 will kick off the event with three-person heats, with the top two in each heat advancing to Round 3, and the losers heading to Round 2. The sole difference from the Championship Tour is that Round 2 – which would be equivalent to the Elimination Round on the CT – will have heats of just two surfers. The losers will be eliminated from the competition, the winners will advance to Round 3 (aka the Round of 16) and two-person knockout heats will continue until we have a winner.
Of course, it’s the Olympics, so we need three medallists rather than just an outright winner. As you’d expect, the loser of the final will go home with the Silver Medal, while the two semi-final losers will head to a Bronze Medal Match for a spot on the podium.
How are surfers scored at the 2024 Olympics?
Scoring will be kept nice and simple in Tahiti, with points being based on the same elements which grab the attention of the judges on the Championship Tour. As usual, competitors can snare as many waves as the heaving barrels at Teahupo’o offer, but only their top two within a heat will count.
Heat lengths will vary depending on conditions just as they do on the CT and have technically been listed as lasting between 15 to 45 minutes, but don’t expect too many 15-minute heats to take place. More likely they will run from around 30 to 40 minutes depending on how quickly we need to get through competition.
The second incarnation of surfing at the Olympics is just days away, with the waiting period kicking off on the 27th of July. In total there are ten potential days of competition, with the window running through until the 5th of August, so there will be plenty of opportunity for good quality conditions. It’s bang on the swell season in the South Pacific, so as it did for the Championship Tour a couple of months ago, there is a good chance that we will see the big, heaving barrels which have made Teahupo’o one of the most iconic waves in the world in what should be a much more entertaining contest than its predecessor in Japan three years ago.