Get on Board for the Olympics: Half the USA Surf Team is from Hawaii!

You don’t want to miss our local surf heroes Carissa Moore and John John Florence compete in the Tokyo Olympic games this summer. Surfers from Hawaii compete under the Hawaiian flag in most comps, but for surfing’s debut in the Olympics, Hawaiians will surf under the US flag. He’e nalu, the Sport of the Kings, is now an Olympic sport, and the US looking good for a gold medal thanks to Hawaii’s Carissa Moore.

For the Olympic surf schedule and results, click here for Olympic Surfing 2021.

2021 Olympic Surfing

20 men and 20 women will compete on shortboards this year at “Shida”– the surf spot at Tsurigasaki Beach in Japan. Each country competing is represented by a maximum of two men and two women surfers per nation. The United States, Brazil, Australia, France, Japan, South Africa, Germany, Peru, Chile, Indonesia, Portugal, New Zealand, Morocco, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Ecuador all have at least one person surfing.

The women’s gold medal comp will be Wednesday July 28th at 9:30am Tokyo time, which will be 2:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, July 27th, but may run until August 1st depending on conditions. Click here for Women’s Gold Medal Surf Comp.

The men’s gold medal comp will be later on Wednesday morning in Japan, so check in on Tuesday afternoon Hawaii time, but may run until August 1st depending on conditions. Click here for Olympic Surfing Men’s Results.

Surfing is not straightforward to judge, similar to gymnastics or figure skating… plus surfing depends on wave size, the randomness of swells along with weather conditions, so the following four days will be reserve days in case the swells didn’t hit Tsurigasaki Beach.

Surfing was popularized by our local hero Duke Kahanamoku, who won three gold medals swimming for the USA at the Stockholm 1912 and Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games. Apparently the Duke talked about his dream to see surfing become an Olympic sport while accepting his swim medal on the podium at the 1912 Games! Surfing is even an accredited high school sport in Hawaii, read more here.

Cheeee-Hoo! Go Carissa!

Epic Surf Shots above by Lindsey Masterson