Surfing-World champion says many top tour surfers unhappy with Olympic qualification tweaks

By Lincoln Feast

Feb 23 (Reuters) - World champion Yago Dora and other top surfers have criticised the sport's Olympic body over changes to the qualification system for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, saying the new system is flawed and that their concerns have been ignored.

Under tweaks announced by the International Surfing Association (ISA) last week, the number of surfers qualifying for LA28 from the privately owned World Surf League's world championship tour will drop to 10 from 20.

"We don't want an easier pathway to qualify than the rest of the surfers," Brazil's Dora told Reuters from Hawaii on Sunday.

"We just wanted it to be fair, and we want to make sure that all the best surfers are representing their nations in the Olympics."

A total of 20 surfers, 10 from each gender, will qualify from the ISA's 2028 World Surfing Games out of an unchanged total field of 48 surfers.

Most of the remaining athletes will qualify through one-off regional ISA events, with the maximum number of surfers per country rising to three from two.

Only one man and one woman per country will be selected from the professional tour, down from two during the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games.

Selections from the world tour will take place in June 2028, early in that year's tour, meaning that the world champions from 2027 might not qualify for the sport's highest-profile event.

"The Olympics is the greatest single event in professional surfing and wouldn't you want the best surfers to have the best chance at qualifying?" Italian Olympic and championship tour surfer Leonardo Fioravanti said on social media.

"The proposal that has been accepted today doesn't even guarantee the 2027 world champion competing in the Olympics."

Dora said tour surfers had given initial feedback and had hoped to reach some compromise with the ISA but the organising body had "disappeared on us" and gone ahead with the changes.

MORE POTENTIAL

ISA Executive Director Robert Fasulo said they held lengthy consultations with multiple stakeholders, including the WSL and national federations, and had a championship tour surfer on the board actively contributing to the updated qualification system.

Top surfers and leading surfing nations would have more chances to qualify under the new system, while safeguarding the core Olympic value of universality, he said.

"There is actually more potential with the increase from two to three athletes per nation," Fasulo said via email in response to questions.

"There are more pathways with the new system. Let’s not forget that the men’s 2024 Olympic champion and bronze medallist both qualified through the ISA World Surfing Games."

Tahitian local Kauli Vaast, surfing for France, won gold at his home break of Teahupo'o, while Brazil's three-times world champion Gabriel Medina finished third, having secured a last-minute ISA qualification in Puerto Rico.

Dora said that among the issues of concern was the timing of the selection for tour surfers, which would come after just four events in 2028, three of which are scheduled for Australia.

"If they are giving out those five spots, they should give it the most fair way possible - that would be counting the full year of 2027," he said, highlighting the consistency needed to perform on tour and the fickle nature of many one-off surf competitions.

Justine Dupont, the chair of the ISA's athletes' commission, said the new system gave more strength back to national federations and still allowed surfers the opportunity to qualify through both the professional circuit and ISA events.

"It’s difficult to satisfy everyone, but I find the new system more appropriate," she said. "As a fan of surfing, I am convinced that we will see the best surfers competing in the waves of LA 2028."