Understanding surfing at the Olympic Games

Surfing has become an Olympic sport! But how did the competitions go? And how do you know if a wave is perfect?

The Marty Surf Delivery team is sharing everything you need to know to understand the competition.

We’ll start with a brief history, and then we’ll get into the technical details.

WHEN AND HOW DID SURFING BECOME AN OLYMPIC SPORT?

Surfing as an Olympic sport is a dream that began with the Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku. In 1920, as a gold medalist in swimming, he expressed his hope to see surfing included in the Olympics to the International Olympic Committee.

Next, the fight continued with Fernando Aguerre. In 1994, as president of the International Surfing Association, he made numerous attempts to have our board sport recognized as an Olympic discipline.

Then came 2011, the year the first results were announced. Surfing was a finalist but was not selected. Then, in 2014, the maximum number of sports at the Olympic Games increased to 28. The International Olympic Committee shortlisted new sports, but surfing was not among them. Then, in 2015, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee proposed new sports, including surfing, and finally, it was recognized as an Olympic sport.

In a world first, we were able to watch the Olympic surfing competition live on TV.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF A WAVE IS PERFECT, IF IT’S WORTH POINTS?

Contrary to what some people think, size isn’t the only thing that matters. There are other factors to consider and understand.

SPEED, STYLE, COMMITMENT, AND POWER

There are five main criteria:

1) COMMITMENT:

The level of difficulty and risk is the most important criterion.

2) INNOVATION:

Of course, classic moves are important, but judges like something new. The unexpected can be appealing.

3) VARIETY:

You have to look at the variety of moves. The more varied they are, the broader the repertoire, and the higher the judges score them.

4) THE COMBINATION

A surfer earns more points if he performs a variety of maneuvers. Of course, on certain waves, this criterion is less important. If only one maneuver is possible—as is the case with tube waves, for example—the “variety” criterion is downplayed.

5) POWER, SPEED, AND SMOOTHNESS:

Wave reading and style—these are the criteria that distinguish an excellent wave from a good one.

It’s important to note that we don’t control the ocean. Conditions and waves aren’t always the same, so the weight of each criterion depends on the conditions on any given day. The judges go through a “judging criteria” process to agree on the weight of the criteria and expectations. They then assign scores between 1 and 10 for each wave. Finally, they take the two highest scores to determine the final score.

During the competition, there were twenty women and twenty men. They competed against each other at the Tsurigasaki beach break, 100 km from Tokyo. The waves were absolutely beautiful—just like those off the coasts of the Landes and the Basque Country.

To determine the winner, there were several rounds, each lasting 30 minutes. First, there were two rounds with groups of four and five surfers. Then came the “final” head-to-head rounds. On the French team, we watched Jérémy Florès, Michel Bourez, Johanne Defay, and Pauline Ado. By reaching the quarterfinals, Michel Bourez was our surfer who went the farthest in the Olympic competition.

No medals for our team this year, but let’s look ahead to 2024—our surfers will be in Tahiti. We hope that Michel Bourez, a native of that island, will make it to the podium.

Now that you have all the information you need to understand surfing at the Olympics, feel free to watch the competition on replay.

Congratulations to Brazil’s Italo Ferreira, who won the gold medal by defeating Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. And congratulations to the United States’ Carissa Moore, who became the first female Olympic champion.

If you want a selection of boards (Link to the boards page) as diverse as these surfers and want to train so you can one day bring home a medal, come check out martysurfdelivery.com. Success is just waiting for you.

Enjoy the show and happy browsing,

The Marty Surf Delivery Team