Could this be the scene on the medal stand in 2020, with surfers sporting Olympic Gold? Photo: ISA
Earlier this year surfing made the cut onto the shortlist of possible additions to the 202 Tokyo Olympics. Now, as September wraps up, the sport is one step closer to taking place in Olympic competition. Thanks to a proposal from the organizing city, surfing and skateboarding are among five sports Tokyo officials feel will reflect their own culture. It’s one step in the process in which the International Olympic Committee grants the host city a short list of requests. The final choice will be made by the International Olympic Committee at next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.
International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre was happy to hear the announcement from Tokyo’s organizers and said, “Surfing has incredible and growing global appeal, particularly amongst young people, and we believe that the dynamic energy of the sport and its fan base around the world would bring many benefits for Tokyo 2020 and the Games.” The ISA, surfing’s governing body for the Olympics, is promoting the technological advances in the sport brought on by artificial waves. With Surf Snowdonia opening this year and several other surf parks along the way, all employing Wave Garden technology, the availability of quality waves at the push of a button is making competitive surfing in the Olympics more appealing to organizers.
How much weight does this newest decision carry exactly? And how likely are we to see surfers battling for gold in 2020 now? The answer is, very. Tokyo’s proposal comes in the wake of a new Olympic rule that allows the host city to introduce and choose at least one sport, with no limit on how many events can be held throughout the games. Instead, the IOC caps the total number of medals that will be given out during the games and total athletes competing. Unlike skating, which will feature both street and park events, surfing can likely only have one medal event of the possible 310 and just 40 athletes added to the final count of 10,500.
