What are Olympic Surfing rules? Explaining everything you need to know for Paris 2024

In a few short weeks, the world will be looking on as the best athletes on planet Earth will meet to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. This year the Games will be held in Paris, France.

However, while the top runners, swimmers, gymnasts, and more are ascending on Paris, the best surfers in the world will be headed to the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti. This beautiful location will hold the surfing competition for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Where is the 2024 Olympic surfing competition taking place?

The Olympic surfing athletes will have their work cut out for them this July as they are scheduled to ride one of the world's most dangerous waves in order to win a medal. The wave that will play host to these surfers is known as Teahupo'o, named for the small village it can be found in.

Many of these surfers who will be competing in the Games this year are familiar with this wave break. It is a staple in the big wave surfing community. Many surfers travel to Tahiti a couple of times a year with the hopes of getting barreled and perhaps scoring the ride of their lives at Teahupo'o. The wave is a huge barreling left that if ridden correctly can give you the experience of your life, but ridden wrong or with any missteps can cause massive injuries or even death.

This wave is vastly different than the smaller waves ridden in Tokyo during the 2021 Olympic Games. That was the first year that surfing was an Olympic Sport and showcased that deep talent pool in the water. This trip to Tahiti will showcase a different set of skills as riders will have to navigate extreme situations in and out of the water.

A lot of money and work have been put into making this remote location Olympic-ready. For instance, there are no grand hotels in the village. The athletes, judges, and other personnel will be sleeping on yachts right near the competition site. Also, there has been an ongoing fight with locals regarding the construction of a huge judge's tower that has been built for the games and to be used during other surf events at Teahupo'o.

How many athletes compete and what is the heat format?

After several avenues of qualification, 48 athletes have stamped their tickets to Tahiti. Among the Olympians this year are several former world champions and many up-and-comers. Some of the medal hopefuls are Carissa Moore, Jack Robinson, Molly Picklum, Brisa Hennessy, and Caroline Marks.

The competition window will begin on July 27 and run until August 4. All athletes will participate in the first round, with heats of three. Each heat will vary between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on conditions. The winner of the first round of heats will move on to the third round, while the other two surfers from each heat will move to the second round, elimination. The second round will see head-to-head heats with the winners moving to the third round and the losers being eliminated from the competition.

Following round 3 the remaining athletes will move to the quarterfinals, then semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will compete in the gold medal match, while the losers of the semifinals will compete for the bronze medal.

In each heat, surfers can to catch as many waves as they are able to. They will work on a priority system to decide who has the first choice of any given wave that comes in. Because of the uniqueness of the wave at Teahupo'o, the surfer's team will be sitting just outside the swell, in what is known as "The Channel" on boats in case any medical assistance is needed or a board breaks.

What are judges looking for at Teahupo'o?

In each heat, riders will be judged on every wave they successfully catch. The highest score for a given wave is 10.0. The best two scores of each heat per rider will count toward their total, with the highest being 20.0 per heat. Teahupo'o is a steep wave with a barrel on most attempts. The judges will be looking for commitment from the surfers on their entrance to the wave as well as a flair of their own. Judges will want to see a rider get as deep in the barrel as they can before popping out without a slipup or fall.

When the WSL last held an event at this break just a few weeks ago some of the standouts were John John Florence who scored a heat total of 17.16 in the final and Tatiana Weston-Webb who scored a 10-point ride in her semifinal heat.

The window for the surfing portion of the Olympic Games will begin on July 27. Overall the competition will be held over four days. Because of the uncontrollable nature of the ocean, some days may be better than others. That is why the window is so large, the officials will assess the ocean each morning to determine whether the contest can run that day or not.