Surfing at the 2024 Summer Olympics took place 27 July – 5 August 2024 in Teahupoʻo reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia, breaking the record for the farthest away a medal competition has been staged from the host city.[1][2] A total of 48 surfers (24 for the men's and women's competitions each) were competing in the shortboard events, augmenting the athlete size by eight more than those in Tokyo 2020.[3]
| Surfing at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Teahupoʻo reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
| Dates | 27 July – 5 August 2024 |
| No. of events | 2 (1 men, 1 women) |
| Competitors | 48 from 21 nations |
Venue
editThe surfing competition was staged in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, in the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia in the southern Pacific. The decision was made to hold the surfing competition in the French territory instead of continental Europe because of the famous massive waves on the island suitable for the surfing competitions.[1] Tahiti is 15,000 km (9,300 mi) from Paris, setting a new record for greatest physical distance of a medal event from the host city, a record that was last set in 1956 when the equestrian events of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, had to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, because Australia had strict quarantine rules for animals coming from overseas.[4]
Participants in the surf competitions will be the only ones not staying at the Olympic village on L'Île-Saint-Denis, and will instead stay on the ship M/V Aranui 5 anchored off Tahiti as the first floating Olympic village.[5] The surfing competition is also the only event held without spectators.[6]
Qualification
editThe qualification system for Paris 2024 builds on the previous format used for Tokyo 2020, ensuring the participation of the world's best professional surfers, along with the vast promotion of geographical universal opportunities for surfers around the world at the Games. While the quota of two male and two female surfers per country remains intact, two exceptions to this rule have been introduced for the ISA World Surfing Games 2022 and 2024 team champions. These exceptions may increase the quota for some teams to three surfers.[7]
Competition schedule
edit| R1 | Round 1 | R2 | Round 2 | R3 | Round 3 | ¼ | Quarter-finals | ½ | Semi-finals | F | Final |
| Event ↓ / Date → | Sat 27 | Sun 28 | Mon 29 | Tue 30 | Wed 31 | Thu 1 | Fri 2 | Sat 3 | Sun 4 | Mon 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's shortboard | R1 | R2 | R3 | Postponed | ¼ | Postponed | ½ | F | |||
| Women's shortboard | R1 | R2 | R3 | ¼ | |||||||
On 29 July, the weather turned dangerous towards the end of round 3 of the men's shortboard event, forcing the postponement of the women's third round. The waves continued to be too rough for competition over the next two days, leading to the last women's round and all finals being postponed.[10] Surfing resumed on 1 August.[9] Competition was again called off on 3 and 4 August, with the semifinals and finals tentatively set for 5 August.[11]
Participating nations
editA total of 48 surfers from 21 nations qualified. Canada and Mexico made their Olympic debuts in the sport.[12][13]
- Australia (4)
- Brazil (6)
- Canada (1)
- China (1)
- Costa Rica (1)
- El Salvador (1)
- France (4) Host
- Germany (2)
- Indonesia (1)
- Israel (1)
- Italy (1)
- Japan (4)
- Mexico (1)
- Morocco (1)
- New Zealand (2)
- Nicaragua (1)
- Peru (3)
- Portugal (2)
- South Africa (3)
- Spain (3)
- United States (5)
Medal summary
editMedal table
edit* Host nation (France)
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France* | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Medalists
edit| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's shortboard |
Kauli Vaast France |
Jack Robinson Australia |
Gabriel Medina Brazil |
| Women's shortboard |
Caroline Marks United States |
Tatiana Weston-Webb Brazil |
Johanne Defay France |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Tahiti approved as Olympic surfing venue for 2024 Paris Games". NBC Sports. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ "Paris 2024 – Surfing". Paris 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ Franceschi Neto, Virgilio (17 August 2022). "How to qualify for surfing at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ Butler, Michael; El-Shaboury, Yara (22 July 2024). "Paris 2024 Olympics: Macron visits athletes' village and water bottles recalled – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Take a Tour of the Olympic Surfing Village Cruise Ship (Video)". Surfer.com. 22 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/surfing-olympic-surfers-score-with-awesome-floating-athletes-village-2024-07-26/
- ^ "International Olympic Committee and ISA Confirm Qualification Process for Surfing Competition at Paris 2024 Olympics". International Surfing Association. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ "Olympic Surfing Schedule — Paris 2024". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Olympic Surfing Schedule & Results — Paris 2024". International Olympic Committee. 1 August 2024. Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Surfing: Action called OFF for today". International Olympic Committee. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Surfing: Finals day called OFF in Tahiti". International Olympic Committee. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ Rachini, Mouhamad (3 November 2023). "Riding the wave to history: B.C. teen first Canadian surfer to qualify for Olympics". www.cbc.ca/radio/. CBC Radio. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
Surfing made its Olympic debut in the 2020 summer games in Tokyo; 20 men and 20 women from across all continents qualified for those games, but none of them were Canadian. Canada's surfing competition debut will come in 2024 though, thanks to Dempfle-Olin's performance in the 2023 Pan American Games.
- ^ Quarnstrom, Evan (16 August 2023). "Alan Cleland Becomes First Mexican Surfer to Qualify for the Olympics". The Inertia. Retrieved 29 July 2024.