After decades of waiting, surfing has finally made it to the Olympics. Surfing, a surface water sport in which an individual uses a board to ride on the forward section of a moving wave of water, was one of the four sports that debuted in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The surfing tournament was divided into two categories – men’s shortboard and women’s shortboard – and was held in the final week of July.
Only five countries have participated in the first surfing event in the Olympic games. These included the host country Japan, Brazil, United States, South Africa, and Australia.
When Did The Idea Of Including Surfing In The Olympics Started?
According to the official website of the International Surfing Association (ISA), the idea of including surfing in the Olympic games was first discussed by Duke Kahanamoku, an Olympic gold medalist in swimming who was considered as the father of modern surfing.
When he participated in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Kahanamoku revealed that it had been a dream of his to see surfing being included in the Olympic games. 83 years later, then-ISA President Fernando Aguerre took a huge step to turn Kahanamoku’s dream into a reality by urging the organization to make it a strategic priority to bring surfing to the Olympics.
IOC Allows Proposal For New Sports In Olympics In 2014
ISA has finally seen the fruits of its hard work when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the decision to allow organizing committees of each Olympic Games edition to propose new events. According to AS.com, the Tokyo Olympic Committee proposed in September 2015 to include karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing as new sports in the Olympics.
Almost a year after the Tokyo Olympic Committee sent their proposal, IOC approved the addition of karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing in the Olympic games.
Thomas Bach Explains Why They Agreed To Include Surfing & Other Sports In The Olympics
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, revealed that they decided to include surfing and other sports in the Olympic games to gather more support from the youth.
"We want to take sport to the youth," Bach said. "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."
Results Of First Surfing Event In The Olympics
All five countries that participated in the first surfing event in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics – Japan, United States, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia – have managed to bring home at least one medal. For the men’s shortboard, Italo Ferreira of Brazil captured the gold medal, while Kanoa Igarashi of Japan and Owen Wright of Australia won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
For the women’s shortboard, the gold medal was obtained by Carissa Moore of the United States. Bianca Buitendag of South Africa came in second place and Amuro Tsuzuki of Japan won the bronze medal.
