I personally would love to see it an Olympic sport and have tried to make it happen a number of times. There is now also a chance that surfing could become an Olympic sport using the new wave pool designs that are emerging. However, for a number of reasons, it won’t happen for a long time.
Actually, the USSF applied for surfing to become an Olympic sport about 4-5 years back but it was rejected. Basically, it takes 7 years from application to approval for a new sport. During the application process, Surf America replaced USSF as the US NGB, and the criteria for a new men’s or women’s sport changed. Now you need 70 countries with national competitions for a new men’s sport, and 40 for an new women’s sport. Surfing has 43 countries. Australia couldn’t get surfing into the games and China didn’t try. Maybe if Surf America can write a new application for women’s surfing and if the USOC will nominate the sport when we host the next games, it’s possible but not likely.
Filed under: surf news
