Surfing made its début at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The discipline is again on the Olympic programme for 2024 in Paris and will take place on the open sea in Tahiti, in French Polynesia. Discover or rediscover surfing: its history, where to surf in Paris and the Paris region, and where and when the Olympic competition takes place.
© Stéphane Laure
Sources differ. According to some, surfing was invented in Peru. According to others, it originated in Polynesia. What is certain is that surfing as we know it today was popularized by Hawaiians: George Freeth, a lifeguard, and Duke Kahanamoku, three-time gold medalist in swimming at the Olympic Games (1912 in Stockholm and 1920 in Antwerp). Together, they contributed to the emergence of the sport at the beginning of the 20th century. Kahanamoku used his popularity to spread the activity of surfing, which became fashionable on the North American continent and in Australia.
Surfing was eventually included in the Olympic Games, held in Tokyo in 2021. The events in this discipline take place in several rounds. In the first round, the top-ranked surfers qualify directly for the third round, with no athlete being eliminated. In the second round, the remaining surfers compete against each other and the best of them move on to the next round, while the others are eliminated. And so on, until the final duel to win gold.
Depending on the round, four or two athletes compete at a time. These rounds last between twenty and thirty minutes, and the surfers' objective is to perform the best tricks when the waves appear. A panel of judges marks out of ten each wave on which the athletes surf, according to criteria such as difficulty, speed, and variety. Only the two best marks are considered in the individual rankings.
At Tokyo 2020, the Brazilian Italo Ferreira in the men's event, and the American Carissa Moore in the women's event, won the first Olympic medals in surfing history. At the Paris Games, Carissa Moore will have the opportunity to achieve an Olympic double. But the American Caroline Marks, the 2023 world champion, and France's Johanne Defay could well be in the running in the summer of 2024. In the men's event, Filipe Toledo, the two-time reigning world champion for Brazil, is the clear favourite, ahead of the American John John Florence, who is very much at home on the site of the Paris 2024 event, as is the Australian Jack Robinson, winner of the Tahiti Pro in 2023, where the Olympic surfing event takes place.
© Cyril Badet
Paris does not have an ocean or a wave, but the capital has plenty of resources! It is possible to surf there, kilometers away from the sea. To do so, head to Wave in Paris (15th) home to a unique indoor artificial wave, accessible from the age of four, with paying sessions à la carte.
In the suburbs, some leisure centres also offer artificial waves, but outdoors. These include the following: the leisure centre Cergy-Pontoise, which has the biggest artificial wave in Europe, and the île de loisirs de Buthiers.
© Fabe collage via Unsplash
The setting is as spectacular as the discipline itself! At the Paris 2024 Games, the surfing events will be held in Tahiti, on Teahupo'o beach in French Polynesia. This magnificent spot was chosen both to highlight the diversity of France's heritage and to showcase the whole of the country, beyond mainland France. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the wave of Teahupo'o, a regular stop on the men's surfing circuit, welcomes athletes from all over the world. from 27 to 30 July 2024 for breathtaking events.
© Troy Williams - Wikipédia
On the paradisaical beaches of La Réunion, Johanne Defay started surfing for fun at the age of 8. But surfing soon took on a new dimension for her. At ten, she took part in her first tournaments. At fifteen, she made an even bigger impression: she became the youngest ever European junior champion in 2009, gaining two more titles in this category in 2011 and 2013. That same year, 2013, the young prodigy also won the European Championship, but this time among adults. At the same time, she earned the right to join the World Championship Tour (WCT). Now a member of the world's elite, Johanne Defay has become a pioneer of French surfing:
And after a respectable eighth-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Games, Johanne Defay will be aiming to do even better and win an Olympic medal on home soil at the Paris Games, in summer 2024.
Johanne Defay is an Olympic medallist! She won bronze on Monday 5 August 2024 in Tahiti. Meanwhile, Frenchman Kauli Vaast has been crowned Olympic champion in the men's event.
