Since when is surfing an Olympic sport and why?

The first medal event isn’t until Wednesday, July 31st, but the action gets going for the Olympic surfers right from the off, on Saturday, July 27th. The early rounds of both the men’s and women’s competitions commence at the iconic Teahupo’o in Tahiti (which is in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean), as you may be aware that Paris isn’t the best place for waves. But how long has the sport been going with the five rings behind it?

When did surfing start in the Olympics?

Some sports are an integral part of the two weeks of Olympic activity. Others come and go. This year at the 2024 Paris Games, for example, three disciplines did not return from the last time out: karate, baseball and softball. For fans of wave riders, however, the news was positive.

Surfing was one of four sports that debuted at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a proposal of The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, along with karate, skateboarding and sport climbing, the latter two also returning.

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How do surfers score points?

Surfers execute a range of maneuvers and tricks on the waves, which are evaluated by five judges. These evaluations consider the diversity, type, and complexity of the tricks. Additionally, surfers are assessed on their speed, power, and fluidity in transitioning seamlessly between moves. In the Olympics, shortboards are preferred as they offer greater speed and agility.

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Why is surfing now an Olympic sport?

2021 (the 2020 Tokyo Games being delayed due to the covid pandemic) was the first time that surfing had a place in the Olympics. The International Surfing Association had announced in 2018 that the Olympic trials would take place in the ocean in Shidashita Beach in Chiba, Tokyo, and not in artificial wave pools as some had predicted.

It came about because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in 2014 that organizing committees of each Olympic Games edition could propose new events. In September 2015, the Tokyo committee sent its proposal to include the aforementioned new Sports as well as the return of baseball and softball. But you have to go way back to the 1920s to find where the surfing movement began, as fans, including three-time Olympic swimming freestyle champion and native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, campaigned for its inclusion.

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In August 2016, the IOC approved their addition. Thomas Bach, president of the mentioned institution, explained the rationale behind the decision.

“We want to take sport to the youth. With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them... Taken together, the five Sports are an innovative combination of established and emerging, youth-focused events that are popular in Japan and will add to the legacy of the Tokyo Games.”

Despite often likely having to take place away from the city where the Games are hosted, the excitement and spectacle that the events create could see it keeping its place in the summers to come.