Surfers will battle it out on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier later this summer to earn a slot into the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, a “golden ticket’ to surf the world-famous Teahupoo in Tahiti for what will be the sport’s second Olympic appearance.
The International Surfing Association announced this week Huntington Beach will host the 2022 ISA World Surfing Games from Sept. 17-24, a chance for surfers to earn championships for their countries in an Olympic-style competition setting.
It is the first time Surf City has hosted the event since 2006.
The World Surfing Games have been around for decades, initially set up to show just how surfing could work in an Olympic format, with athletes competing for gold, silver and bronze medals – for themselves and their countries. Guess it worked, the Tokyo Games featured surfing among its official sports.
Huntington Beach officials have been vocal about their intent to pitch the city as the best venue for surfing and other action sports when the 2028 Olympics come to Los Angeles – September’s contest could be a way to show Surf City’s ability to host large-scale events with enough sand space for crowds, year-round surf and hotels and convention centers for tourists.
Visit Huntington Beach CEO and President Kelly Miller said there will be a traditional Parade of Nations down Main Street to Pier Plaza on Sept. 16, with the surf competition kicking off the following day.
The world’s best surfers are already expected to be in town for the World Surf League’s Finals at Lower Trestles, which has a waiting period of Sept. 8-15.
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“There’s a good chance we’ll have more world-class pro surfers in the ISA Games because of the chance to win a golden ticket,” Miller said. “It’s an easy transition from San Clemente to Huntington Beach.”
The winning men’s and women’s national teams at the World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach will be allocated one Olympic slot each for their respective country. This qualification slot will be in addition to the two athletes per country – meaning a country could have three competitors going into the games.
The ISA also recently released how it will select the net Olympic surfers. The top 10 men and eight women will come from the 2023 World Surf League Championship Tour, while four men and four women will be selected at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games.
Others will qualify through the Pan American Games, the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games and slots will also be given to the host nation.
But first, Huntington Beach. It is the seventh major ISA event held at the pier through the years – three ISA World Surfing Games in 1984, 1996 and 2006, as well as the ISA World Juniors in 2005, 2018 and 2019.
Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi, who surfs for Japan, seen with San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino, team United States. The duo are among the local standouts who could earn a ticket in Huntington Beach, where they both grew up surfing, for the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
The first World Surfing Games Olympic qualifying event was held in Japan in 2019 and in 2021, El Salvador was host.
Several of the world’s top World Surf League competitors also hold ISA World Surfing Games championships, including Brazil’s Italo Ferreira, France’s Jeremy Flores, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and Santa Ana surfer Courtney Conlogue, who will no doubt be among the hometown surfers to watch at the Huntington Beach surf break.