Olympic Surfing – Tokyo 2021 Breakout

Favourite Italo Ferreira won the first gold medal in Olympic surfing. He handled the adverse conditions at Tsurigasaki Beach the most elegantly, and he won confidently ahead of the Japanese Kanoa Igarashi. Gabriel Medina, a local hero, had difficulties in finding the perfect wave in the final and thus won the first Olympic silver in surfing. The Bronze went to the Australian Owen Wright. His medal came six years after his serious surfing accident, and the Australian's joy over placing in top 3 was the emotional highlight of the competition.

In the women's competition, the American Carissa Moore, one of the favourites, won the historic gold. Moore dominated both the waves and the competition, beating South African Bianca Buitendag in the final. Buitendag's entry into the finals was a surprise and at the same time the crowning glory of her career, as she announced that she would quit surfing after the Olympics. Another surprise came in the final for bronze where the Japanese Amuro Tsuzuki prevailed against the favourite Caroline Marks.

In total, two surfing competitions were held at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo: Men's and Woman’s Shortboard.

Four athletes are in the water at the same time, each having have 20 to 25 minutes to show their skills. The two highest scores indicate the overall score of an athlete. After each surfed wave a jury evaluates the results and awards a grade from one to ten with two decimal places. Factors for the evaluation are, among other things, the degree of difficulty, the speed and the flow of the respective manoeuvre. Only one athlete is allowed to surf a wave at a time, and whoever is closer to the wave's peak has the priority on the wave.

The original idea of surfing on artificial waves was discarded for the surfing Olympics, much to the applause of surfers and die-hard fans. Instead, the surfing competitions took place at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Ichinomiya, located about 65 kilometres outside of Tokyo.

Since the Olympic surfing competitions are heavily dependent on wind conditions and the best possible conditions should be guaranteed for the athletes, a total of eight days were initially set as the staging period prior to the Olympic Games. After the start of the competition, it was held within four days.

For the surfing premiere at the Olympic Games, however, weather conditions were anything but perfect. The preliminary rounds started on July 25th, but there was a fear of a calm wave at first. On the second day of the Olympic surfing competition strong winds, grey skies and unpredictable waves announced the approaching Typhoon Nepartak. For some time, it was even unclear whether the competitions could be continued, but in the end, surfing history was still made.

A total of 20 men and 20 women took part in the competitions surfing Olympics. In addition to the medal winners Italo Ferreira (gold), Carissa Moore (gold), Kanoa Igarashi (silver), Bianca Buitendag (silver), Owen Wright (bronze) and Amuro Tsuzuki (bronze), the following athletes qualified for the first surfing Olympics:

Men:

• Leandro Usuna (Argentina)
• Julian Wilson (Australia)
• Gabriel Medina (Brazil)
• Michel Bourez (France)
• Jeremy Flores (France)
• Jordy Smith (South Africa)
• Kolohe Andino (USA)
• John John Florence (USA)
• Manuel Selman (Chile)
• Leon Glatzer (Germany)
• Hiroto Ohhara (Japan)
• Lucca Messinas (Peru)
• Miguel Tudela (Peru)
• Ramzi Boukhiam (Morocco)
• Rio Waida (Indonesia)
• Frederico Morais (Portugal)
• Billy Stairmand (New Zealand)

Women:

• Mimi Barona (Ecuador)
• Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia)
• Stephane Gilmore (Australia)
• Silvana Lima (Brazil)
• Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil)
• Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica)
• Johanne Defay (France)
• Caroline Marks (USA)
• Leilani McGonagle (Costa Rica)
• Pauline Ado (France)
• Mahina Maeda (Japan)
• Daniella Rosas (Peru)
• Teresa Bonvalot (Portugal)
• Yolanda Sequeira (Portugal)
• Sofia Mulanovich (Peru)
• Anat Lelior (Israel)
• Ella Williams (New Zealand)

In the run-up to the games, the Brazilians Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina, who have won the previous two editions of the World Surf League, were among the favourites. The American John John Florence also had good chances for the title. Carissa Moore and Stephanie Gilmore have dominated women's surfing for years, so they were also considered top favourites in Japan for the surfing Olympics.

The other sports that made their new Olympic appearance surfing was Karate, Baseball/Softball, Skateboarding and Climbing.

The Surfing Olympics are a widespread hit at the Paris games too, and they are taking place on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, a surfing paradise located over 9000 miles from the main location of the Olympics. These are the athletes who are battling it out for an Olympic surfing medal.

Men's Surfing Finals:

• Alonso Correa (Peru)   
• Kauli Vaast (France)
• Gabriel Medina (Brazil)
• Jack Robinson (Australia)

Women's Surfing Finals:

• Caroline Marks (USA)  
• Johanne Defay (France)
• Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil)
• Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica)