RIDING WAVE OF OLYMPIC FEVER
NATIONS BATTLE FOR 2020 INCLUSION
NEXT month’s clarification of the 16 countries competing in the Japan 2020 Olympics will be welcome news.
The allocation is for each qualifying nation to have two males and two females.
Host country Japan will be automatically given one male and one female.
However it will be the International Surfing Association (ISA), the world governing body of the World Surfing Games (WSG) and ISA titles that submit the list of the 16 countries that qualify and signed off by International Olympic Committee (IOC)
The world professional body, World Surf League (WSL) and ISA president Fernando Aguerre, who is credited with convincing the IOC that surfing be included in the Olympics, will be working together on the tricky qualification process.
Championship Tour (CT) surfers from World Surf League do not have to compete in the World Surfing Games, but they must be available and if selected by their country, they must compete to be eligible for the Olympics.
Other member nations eligible to compete in the ISA WSG and qualify for the Olympics, include Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Iran, India, Trinidad and Tobago.
They are longshots for the Olympics but they have every right to attempt to qualify.
The 2017 ISA WSG broke a record with 47 competing nations. Taken from 2017 world rankings, Australia’s men’s team would be Julian Wilson and Matt Wilkinson and the women’s would be Tyler Wright and Stephanie Gilmore, although much can change with the ongoing qualification process.
Gold Coast/Tweed Coast female hopes include Alyssa Lock, who was voted best surfer in the readers’ poll for 2017.
Others include Zahli Kelly, a quarter-finalist in the world professional juniors, and Piper Harrison, the Australian under-16 champion.
Men’s candidates could be Snappers WQS pair Mitch Parkinson and Sheldon Simkus, Snapper club champion Jaggar Bartholomew and latest Pro Junior champ Dextar Muskens.
The Olympic format can be run over a couple of days with up to a 14 days waiting period for the best surf available.
Despite intense lobbying for Kelly Slater’s Wave Pool to be built, Japanese organisers are set on hosting the historic Olympic surfing event in the ocean at Shidashita Beach, or “Shida,” located in Chiba about 65km from Tokyo.