Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics

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Surfing
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Surfing, Tokyo 2020.svg
VenueTsurigasaki Beach, Chiba
Dates25–27 July 2021
No. of events2
Competitors40 from 17 nations
2024  
Italo Ferreira Italo Ferreira durante a competicao.jpg
Ítalo Ferreira

Surfing at the Summer Olympics made its debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. [1] The Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but was postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] [3]

Setting

In 2018, the International Surfing Association (ISA) announced that surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics would take place in the ocean, and not in an artificial wave pool. [4] The contest site for the 2020 Games was announced to be Tsurigasaki Beach located about 40 miles (64 km) outside of Tokyo in Ichinomiya, Chiba. [5] To ensure quality surf, the contest will feature a waiting period of 16 days. Once the event runs, it will take two days to finish the competition. [6]

Competition structure

The 2020 Summer Olympics will use a four-person heat structure. [7] Four athletes will compete at any given time. The best two of each heat will continue to the next round. Each heat will run for 20 to 25 minutes, with their top two scores being used.

Only one rider may ride a wave at any given time, using a common surfing etiquette [8] rule where the surfer who is closest to the peak has right of way. Any interference with the surfer who has right of way can incur a penalty and result in point deductions.

A panel of judges will determine each rider's performance from wave to wave, scoring from one to ten with two decimals. e.g. 8.51. Scores are based on the difficulty of manoeuvres performed. This includes speed, power, and flow of each manoeuvre.

Bid for inclusion

On 28 September 2015, surfing was featured on a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, karate, and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics. [9] On 3 August 2016 the International Olympic Committee voted to include all five sports (counting baseball and softball as a single sport) for inclusion in the 2020 Games. [10]

Two major obstacles for surfing to be included in the Olympics for many years was that firstly, it would be difficult to hold surfing events in the event of a landlocked country hosting the Games (compared to sailing which can take place at a lake, surfing requires an ocean current with waves), and secondly, that drowning is one of the major risks in surfing: the IOC was reluctant to take high liabilities in the event of a competitor's death. [11]

Number of participants

20 men and 20 women planned to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics. [12] [13] However, one of the men, Carlos Muñoz, did not make it in time for his event. [14] Surfing at the Olympics is currently limited to high-performance shortboards only, [15] separated into categories of gender. If surfing is included in upcoming games such as Paris 2024 or Los Angeles 2028, other categories such as Longboarding, bodyboarding and SUP may be included. [16]

Qualification

Quota places will be allocated to the athletes at the following events:

There is a maximum of 2 men and 2 women per NOC. [17]

Timeline

EventPlaces (Men)Places (Women)DateVenue
Host Country11
2019 Pan American Games 1126 July – 11 August 2019 Flag of Peru.svg Lima
2019 World Surf League 108April – December 2019various
2019 ISA World Surfing Games 447–15 September 2019 Flag of Japan.svg Miyazaki
2021 ISA World Surfing Games 4629 May – 6 June 2021 Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador
Re-allocation of unused quotasTBD 2020–21N/A

Competition schedule

HHeatsQFQuarter-FinalsSFSemi-FinalsFFinals
Schedule
Date25 Jul26 Jul27 Jul
Men's R1R2R3QFSFF
Women's R1R2R3QFSFF

Dates are tentative. Competition will take place over 4 days between 25 July and 1 August, subject to wave conditions. [18] [19]

Finals advanced to 27 July from 28 July, to take advantage of waves caused by Tropical Storm Nepartak. [20] [21]

Medal summary

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Japan)

RankNOCGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1001
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1001
3Flag of Japan.svg  Japan*0112
4Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 0101
5Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 0011
Totals (5 entries)2226

Events

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's shortboard
details
Ítalo Ferreira
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Kanoa Igarashi
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Owen Wright
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Women's shortboard
details
Carissa Moore
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bianca Buitendag
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Amuro Tsuzuki
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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