The International Olympic Committee and the International Surfing Association confirm the qualification process for the surfing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) today welcomed the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) launch of the Qualifying System (QS) approved for the Olympic surfing competitions in Paris 2024, which will be held at Teahupo'o, the world-famous reef break in Tahiti.

The Olympic QS is based on the previous system used for Tokyo 2020, ensuring the participation of the world's best professional surfers and promoting universal geographical opportunities for surfers from all over the world at the Games.

While the quota of 2 surfers per gender per country remains, two exceptions to this rule have been introduced for the 2022 and 2024 ISA World Surfing Games Team Champions.  This exception could result in some of the top teams seeing their quota expanded to 3 athletes (see below for details of that change).  The key elements of the rating system are as follows:

24 men, 24 women.

Maximum of 2 surfers per gender per National Olympic Committee (NOC).  There will be two exceptions to this limit for winning teams, by gender, at the 2022 and 2024 ISA World Surfing Games (WSG), where each team will qualify one spot for their country/CON.

Qualifying positions will be obtained individually, by name, except for the WSG 2022 and 2024 team world champion positions.

In accordance with IOC guidelines, qualifying events have been determined in a hierarchical order of qualification, as explained below. If two surfers of one gender have qualified through the first hierarchical order, that NOC will not be able to qualify any more surfers of that gender through lower-ranked qualifying events.

All surfers selected by their respective National Federations for their teams must have participated in the 2023 and 2024 ISA World Surfing Games to be eligible for Olympic qualification.  The ISA and the IOC are still reviewing the final details of the eligibility requirements.

“Teahupoo will be a spectacular and magical showcase for our sport at the Olympic Games.  Surfing was a very popular sport at the Tokyo 2020 Games.  Olympic Surfing in 2024 will undoubtedly extend the success of Tokyo.  We are incredibly excited to share this tangible pathway for surfers to achieve their Olympic dreams. Surfing is such a personal and individual expression of performance that it was truly important for us to continue allowing surfers to earn the right to qualify based on their own performances. For this reason, all qualification spots, with a few noted exceptions, will be awarded by name. Providing winning teams at our World Surfing Games in 2022 and 2024 with the opportunity to earn additional spots, regardless of the two-per-country limit, is a significant innovation that will further motivate top surfing nations to win the ISA World Team Champion Trophy. This is another epic moment for the sport of surfing, and for all of us who have dreamed of Olympic surfing and shared in the incredible debut in Tokyo last year. “I can’t wait to see how our incredibly talented athletes perform in the qualifiers with the goal of becoming the next Olympic surfing medalists in 2024,” said Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association (ISA).

The hierarchical order of qualification will be as follows :

1- 2023 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour: Top 10 eligible men and top 8 eligible women.

2- ISA World Surfing Games 2023: 4 men and 4 women selected based on their continent.  Eligible surfers with the best results in each gender from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

3- Pan American Games 2023: First eligible man and first eligible woman in surfing competitions.

4- ISA World Surfing Games 2024: First 5 eligible men and first 7 eligible women.

5- ISA World Surfing Games 2024: Winning teams by gender will qualify 1 place for their respective country/NOC, regardless of the quota limit of 2 per country.

6- ISA World Surfing Games 2022: Winning teams by gender will qualify 1 place for their respective country/NOC, regardless of the quota limit of 2 per country.

7- Host nation place: One male and one female place will be guaranteed for the host nation of France, unless they have already been filled through the above hierarchies.  If athletes from France qualify regularly, their slots will be reallocated to the highest-ranked eligible surfers from the 2024 World Surfing Games.

Universality Place: For the first time, a place per gender will be made available to eligible NOCs.  Special consideration will be given to the nature of the wave at Teahupoo in terms of the eligibility criteria for these locations.  If it is determined that there are no qualified surfers in this category, these places will be reallocated to the highest-ranked eligible surfers from the 2024 World Surfing Games. The IOC will communicate the full process and selection criteria for these places at a later date.

The ISA will work with the IOC and Olympic Solidarity to organize targeted training camps in Tahiti ahead of the Games to give qualified and potentially qualified surfers the opportunity to maximize their experience on the wave at Teahupoo.

Source: ISA