Surfing

Surfing is a water sport in which a rider stands on a board and rides a breaking ocean wave toward the shore. In competition, judges score each ride, and a surfer’s result in a heat is the sum of their two best waves. Hawaii is described as the birthplace of surfing, and the sport made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

History of surfing

Surfing grew out of Hawaiian tradition, and the Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku is described by the International Surfing Association as the father of modern surfing. Kahanamoku won a swimming medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. The ISA says he first voiced his dream of seeing surfing in the Games at that event, although another account places the dream around 1919.

The push for Olympic inclusion was led by the International Surfing Association, or ISA. Fernando Aguerre, a member of Argentina’s national surfing team, was elected ISA president in 1994, and in 1995 he met the IOC president in Lausanne and made Olympic inclusion a strategic priority. The IOC recognized the ISA in June 1995, and the association grew from 32 member nations in 1995 to 109.

In 2014, 26 sports, including surfing, were allowed to apply for the Tokyo 2020 Games. A proposal was made on 25 September 2015, and on 3 August 2016 the IOC voted at its 129th Session in Rio de Janeiro to include surfing as one of five new sports in Tokyo. Surfing and stand-up paddle racing had already appeared at the 2017 Central American Games in Nicaragua and the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

Rules and how surfing is played

A surfing contest is divided into rounds, and each round is made up of heats of two to four surfers. In a heat, surfers paddle out, catch waves and perform maneuvers while a panel of judges scores each ride. There is no limit on how many waves a surfer can catch, so wave selection and tactics matter.

The Olympic scoring scale runs from 1 to 10 with two decimal places, and a perfect ride scores 10. A panel of five judges scores each wave. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the surfer receives the average of the remaining three.

A surfer’s heat total is the sum of their two best waves, so a perfect heat is worth 20 points and extra waves cannot lower a total. Olympic heats last 20 to 35 minutes depending on conditions. At Tokyo 2020 they were heats of four athletes, with the top two advancing, and a losers’ final decided the bronze medal.

Judges look at five criteria: commitment and degree of difficulty, innovative and progressive maneuvers, variety of maneuvers, combinations of major maneuvers, and speed, power and flow. The World Surf League rulebook sets bands for scores: 0.0 to 1.9 is poor, 2.0 to 4.9 is fair, 5.0 to 6.4 is good, 6.5 to 7.9 is very good, and 8.0 to 10.0 is excellent.

A priority system prevents collisions. The surfer with priority has the right of way to any wave, and others may go for the same wave only if they do not hinder that surfer’s scoring. Priority is lost after catching a wave or after paddling for one and missing it. A surfer who interferes with the surfer who has priority usually has their heat score calculated from their best wave only, and two interferences in a heat lead to disqualification from that heat.

Equipment and venues

The Olympic events are held in the shortboard format, with men’s and women’s competitions. Because surfing depends on natural waves, the Olympic schedule includes a waiting period so that organizers can run the contest on the best days.

At Tokyo 2020 the competition took place at Tsurigasaki Beach, also called Shidashita Beach, in Chiba, Japan. A 16-day waiting period ran from 24 July to 9 August to find the right conditions, and once the contest began, medals were awarded within 48 hours.

At Paris 2024 the surfing took place at Teahupo’o in Tahiti, part of French Polynesia, which is the farthest venue from a host city in Olympic history. The Los Angeles 2028 Games are planned for Lower Trestles in California.

Governing bodies and major competitions

The ISA and the World Surf League share the main roles in the sport. At Tokyo 2020 they split the qualification spots equally: 18 athletes qualified through the WSL Championship Tour, 18 through the ISA World Surfing Games and the Pan American Games, and two Japanese surfers received host-nation wildcards.

Olympedia describes surfing as one of the optional sports chosen for Tokyo 2020 and kept on the program for the France host nation at Paris 2024. It also lists surfing as a permanent core Olympic sport from Los Angeles 2028.

Records and notable moments

Across the two Olympic surfing competitions so far, 71 participants from 24 national Olympic committees have taken part, in men’s and women’s shortboard events held twice each. In Tokyo, the gold medals went to Italo Ferreira of Brazil and Carissa Moore of the United States.

In Paris, Kauli Vaast of France and Caroline Marks of the United States won gold. No surfer has won more than one Olympic medal. By nation, the United States has two golds, Brazil has one gold, one silver and one bronze, and France has one gold and one bronze.

Global reach

The growth of the ISA from 32 member nations in 1995 to 109 shows how far the sport spread, reaching markets such as Iran, Sierra Leone and Russia. The Olympic medal table has medalists from the United States, Brazil, France, Australia, Japan and South Africa.

Not every board sport followed surfing into the Games. Stand-up paddle racing was proposed for Tokyo 2020 but was not recommended for the Olympic program, and the ISA says it will keep pushing for its inclusion.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue