Olympics 2024: Day One
Olympics 2024: Day One
Day one of the Paris Olympics surfing competition is wrapped, with a fantastically entertaining day at recreational-size Teahupoo that built to a magic crescendo as five-time World Champion and current Gold Medallist Carissa Moore returned to competition with an imperious performance in the golden light of the last heat of the day. Some saw it as a stunning vindication of Teahupoo as the Olympics venue, which is true, and others saw it as surfing's Olympic moment, which is also true. But in this moment, it has sewn the seeds of its own demise. I'll elaborate on this admittedly pessimistic outlook shortly.
(ISA/Franco)
Teahupoo is a simple wave to surf. But simple is not easy and there are levels to the game of riding it, which was on full display today. Almost all of the non-CT men had competent skill sets and game plans, even more than some of the CT guys like Kanoa and Filipe Toledo, for example, who went down to Peruvian Alonso Correa. Correa got the first bomb of the morning for an 8.50 and backed it up effortlessly. Kanoa got not much at all. In fact, it looked startlingly similar to his previous CT outing where some sort of horrific head noise and stubborn adoption of a game plan left him sitting in the line-up like a marker buoy. Pip surfed Teahupoo the same way he has always surfed it, which is to say, hesitatingly, falteringly, with a few flashes of competence and a non-make on a really good wave that would have vastly elevated his final score. Months have passed since he kicked out of the tour at Pipe and his preparation looks to be very undercooked.
Heat wins, due to the format, were at a premium. Round One winners are now four heats (two hours, eight good waves) from a gold medal. Losers surf an extra heat in what is likely to be trickier conditions tomorrow.
Other non-CT guys also won heats or threatened. Veteran Joan Duru (ex-CT) snuck past Jack Robinson who was a shade off his best. Japan's Reo Inaba rode two deep tubes to get past Rio Waida and Leo Fioravanti. My dark horse pick Al Cleland Jr laid down the best non-CT heat of the men's side for a combined score of 14.34 which would have won all but two heats of the opening round. Those two heats were one in which the CT big dogs lifted to another level.
Al Cleland (ISA/Ryder)
In Al's case it was JJF who blitzed and blazed away on any wave that came his way. He treated it like a free surf, which in effect it felt like. The Olympic vibe at the venue was subdued. Spectators had been banned from the water and compared to the usual CT hooting, hollering, and cacophony when sets came or a deep tube was nailed, the day went down mostly in a polite, reverent silence. Idling motors were the dominant background sound. Only the occasional cowbell rung from Team USA showed any recognition of what is supposed to be the elite level of sport. No doubts JJF put on an elite performance. One of the things that strikes the first time visitor to Teahupoo is just how many waves strike at different points along the reef and how many go unridden. They are there for the taking and JJF helped himself at the buffet on numerous occasions: deep southwest sets, square west peaks on the paddle back out. He kept the motor running and made it look both incredibly fun and incredibly easy. A 9.33 and an 8 netted the highest heat total of the day, just eclipsing Griffin Colapinto in the next heat with a 9.53 and a 7.50.
Medina wasn't far behind, as far as performance goes, even if the bombs didn't quite show up in his heat. Two lofted alley-oops that were both just incomplete, would have pushed his scores up into the 8's.
John Florence (ISA/McKenna)
What would a gold medal mean to a CT big dog? Not much. John Florence's life would change little in a material sense. The transformative power of a gold would be reserved for those on the less established end of the spectrum. A gold for, say, Ramzi Boukhiam or Kauli Vaast or Al Cleland would be massive. Life changing in terms of endorsements. Transformative for the sport as well in terms of disrupting the established power structures of the major surfing nations.
No yelling, screaming fans was a major point of difference on the webcast. No ads was another. Blank boards and a clean broadcast made for a much more elegant and relaxing viewing experience. The coverage was first class, a notch up from CT level. An ultra tight shot of competitors in the tube allowed us to view every grimace, every miniscule adjustment in technique, every slight miscalculation which led to disaster.
Surfing wasn't here to save the reef or elevate whatever cause the WSL had aligned itself with no matter how egregious the hypocrisy. It was here for the spectacle, as a venue for Olympic competition. In this it excelled. And this is why I believe surfing as an Olympic sport has now sown the seeds of its own demise.
The spectacle is not reproducible. Which is bad. Olympic snowboarding grew massive on a reproducible spectacle: a massive half-pipe and a mainstream star in Shawn White. Even that took a while.
Olympic surfing, assuming it goes onto LA in 2028 and then Brisbane in 2032, can only go downhill. Huntington Beach in summer will almost certainly be the venue. There will be nothing of the spectacle of Teahupoo, which even the layperson can respond to. No beauty, no drama, no danger.
Brisbane could be worse. They might panic and run to a wave-pool with the late winter slot giving high probability of tiny/flat surf in southeast Queensland. The general public has even less interest in wave-pools than surfers do.
No, this is as good as it gets. The high point. Barring a decision to make Teahupoo the permanent Olympic venue (a brilliant idea that could never be manifested), surfing in the Olympics will dribble away into a kind of glorified Challenger Series or a boring as batshit wave-pool competition.
Feel free to rebut this grim outlook.
(ISA/Jimenez)
The gap in skill sets was wider for the eight heats of women's competition. There were heats surfed of limited competence. Many barrels being dodged and going unridden. But lots of surprise packets and even extreme charging from no name girls who may not have had experience but showed tons of courage.
Of the CT'ers, Caz Marks packed bombs and found exits. Tyler was more subdued and in a low-scoring affair found a couple of shallow tube rides.
The Round One super heat between Tati, Caity, and Pickles was maximum entertainment. All charged. Tati seemed to take a few sets personally, spinning too late and into oblivion, rather than suffer injuries to pride by not going. Molly had the waves to win, but continues the run of shakey form that is crippling her performance. In the end it was Caity who tracked down west bowls for clean, wide open tube-rides for the win.
Caity Simmers (ISA/McKenna)
Brisa watched and winced from the boat when Tati got pumped but it only offered inducement to up the ante. A no hands, bucking bronco of a ride did not look intentional but she somehow made the exit on her feet for a 8.33. More controlled rides showed it was no fluke and she ended the heat with a 15+ total. Johanne Defay took multiple heavy beatings, at one point receiving medical attention from a head wound and electing to wear a helmet. It's one thing to charge for our benefit. It's another to have the skills and composure to execute.
Johanne Defay (ISA/McKenna)
We saw both sides of the coin in the next heat. 15-year old Siqi Yang swung on the first wave of the heat, a very bulbous set wave and managed to get in under the scything lip to pull in. She got obliterated. It was not her worst wipeout. She nosedived into the maw of set waves, got pitched up with the lip overbalancing on the pull-in. It was a crash test dummy display and somehow the robust Chinese teen did not end up mangled on the reef. I didn't know what to make of it. Was the performance a harbinger of things to come? Ushering in an influx of athletic youth from China, gaining access to all the coaching expertise of the west and ready to storm the surfing world? Or was it an evolutionary dead end?
My dark horse pick for the women, Nadia Erostarbe, surfed brilliantly. Steezy, deep tube-rides and very, very composed.
Nadia Erostarbe (ISA/Jimenez)
But the highlight of the day came down in the last heat. The surf was pumping, brushed perfectly clean by light offshores and equal parts enticing and dangerous as backlit tubes rifled down into the shallow end section.
Carissa started solidly, with two clean makes. Bonvalot and Shino both speared clean tubes. In the last five minutes Carissa nailed a deep bomb after Shino broke early and paddled for the first wave of the set. Somehow she then won a paddle battle and using priority perfectly rode one of the biggest sets of the day. It was a stanza of grace in sport that could disable the cynicism of the most disagreeable keyboard critic and force one into a state of perfect enjoyment of the action. Griff, Riss, Caz, JJF all nailed it.
Team USA killed it on Day One, if we have to be all nationalistic like the Olympics wants us to.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
The USA can delica my balls
Lennox is still prime time in July/August Steve.
A lot closer to Brisbane than the end of the road is to Paris.
Was going to mention bribie island as a venue
Infrastructure aside
2032 should be held at T O S
They'll run it st snapper or dbah though.......
I’d second that Bribie option, best kept secret in Queensland
Is it true? Bribie is Blow-ins secret Qld south swell magnet?
Checked Bribie many times when I was living In Brisbane, should have kept going to Caloundra.
I hear they love having contests there too!
Another state if the waves are pumping somewhere else?
Feel free to rebut this grim outlook. For me, if the Olympics are in LA, the surfing should be at Kelly's wave pool. While mediocre surfing is boring at the wave pool, the stars perform very well there & its very entertaining. Plus it suits the Olympics perfectly, similar to defined (set numbered) gymnastic, diving or ski runs.
I’d be happy for them to take wave pools out of the WSL and leave them for the olympics tbh.
I think the hype, music and plenty of barrels and airs at a wave pool would probably appeal to the general population.
I loved today though.
This actually weirdly would work, the format is terrible for a surf comp but is very olympics
BarbB +1
Its interesting you praised the telecast. What I watched was good. However, since I didn't watch it all live, I can't find any replays. This is bad. The Australia 9Now only has replays of the Australian surfer heats.
https://youtube.com/shorts/CvXt3CsW0do?si=KovGzMNq4hHNWd_F
https://youtube.com/shorts/qkUSCtGo6Vk?si=1J3fHeBqz2utr_ix
https://youtube.com/shorts/wOTuRPV7RCM?si=bGraOa10BeKKWYss
Stan has a sports package that covers all sports live and replay on demand. Not free, unfortunately.
yeah, 9's coverage is no good, it seems. at least i'm also unable to find a full day's replay of the competition.
As you say, this is as good as it gets for Olympic surfing, and it was pretty good - perfect, mortal-sized chopes. But I bet many 1000’s more people watched the Boomer’s pool match or the Women’s cycling time trial than they did this.
I was in a restaurant recently,
Surfing on the TV
Thousands of kms from waves.
I scanned the room
No one even really noticed
Maybe one person watching
People who don't surf don't care.
Fascinating day all round. Yes not the biggest but interesting none the less. Round 2 will be intriguing as well. Not totally sure on the demise of surfing due to huntingdon beach next time. I'd still sooner watch the surfing than synchronised swimming or wrestling
Wrestling is fascinating: technique, power, speed, brains. But yeah I grew up watching it.
A highly underrated sport. I wish it was more popular in Australia.
The ancient Greeks got a lot of things right.
Ironic after everyone’s complaints about crowds , and Qlders and Northern NSW ?
If Paris can host its surfing event thousands of kms away - why can't Brisbane? They could hold it at Lennox!
Trying to find a place to watch the full days replay with no luck. Any ideas? Seems there is nothing through any of the proper channels. We always watch the WSL this way.. in the evenings and can enjoy a comp over a week or so. Only saw snippets live, just want to watch the whole day.
empty handed here. no luck
only Aussie replays are on 9Now and they are only the four Aussie heats
Full day is on Stan Sport, but you gotta pay obviously. Haven’t found it anywhere free.
You can get full replays through CBC (Canada).
You need a VPN, set it to Canada.
Download the CBC Gem app (Canadian version of the 9 app).
You need to set up a username and password, and will have to put in a valid Canadian postcode (just google some random town for that). Then you should be able to watch full replays.
China charging
Full cyborg determination. China will continue to experiment until they get it right
How about Olympic standard commentators? Only Barton would make the cut out of the current team for me. He’s head and shoulders above the rest
Speaking of commentary, how was it?
Not great when you're used to WSL commentary that has details, tech knowledge, jargon, etc
At one time they got excited about "dry reef" when the surfer was standing at end of the reef thigh deep.
In all honesty they should have had the foresight to give the commentary gig to Roy & HG. They would have done a sterling job!!
Interesting how the 1988 world champ Barton Lynch got a guernsey for the Olympics after being banished from the WSL
Why was he banished or did he leave of his own accord?
BL was lumbered with Shannon, so borderline unlistenable.
Cote and Grimwald did a good job of explaining the spectacle to a non-surfing audience.
My wife was listening while Shannon and BL were on! She stormed out of the room saying "I can't listen to that dribble!" Referring to Shannon.
She has that really annoying LA whiny, squeaky voice that resembles a Chipmunk.
"I dont mind..."
What happens if Switzerland ,Bolivia , Russia(unlikely) or Austria get the Olympics?
Worry about it when it happens haha.
Confirmed bids for 2036 so far are Indonesia, Turkey, India and Chile. Finders crossed for Indo or Chile.
I’d be more pessimistic about Gallipoli point than winter time D bah .
I didn't quite get your pessimism when you expressed it in the live comments Steve but do get it now, and while I agree Huntington would probably be another Japan fiasco with dribble and chop hops, and who knows with Snapper in winter, I still think the sport has Olympic legs, but it's gotta be in a pool.
We are all bored by WSL pool comps but it's perfect for Olympics I think. The reproducible spectacle you speak of, ready made for TV.
I don't ski or snowboard, no interest, but never miss the downhill or half pipe every winter Olympics. Love watching it.
And I remember how exciting it was for all of us when we saw Kelly's pool the first time, couldn't get enough of watching it. I reckon that's how a lot of punters outside our bubble would react too, I don't agree they would be more bored with it than we are. And while I agree the atmosphere lacked cheering crowds at the end of the road reef, you wouldn't get that with a pool Olympic comp., it'd be party time in the bleachers I believe.
Surfing deserves to be in the Olympics.
I hope it stays, one way or another.
And I think even the big dogs on the tour want that gold or a medal just as much as a WSL title or Bell or Pipe trophy, it wouldn't necessarily make them richer maybe, maybe not, but an Olympic Champion is rare air they would all kill to breathe.
Sure, hard to top some of the vision coming out of Tahiti today or the location, but does it have to do that to stay an Olympic sport of high profile and viewership?
I'm not as pessimistic.
And that China girl has some oversized nads on her, "Siqi would go"!
Re: commentary.
What DingOz says...it's fkn hard to deal with.
BL any day of the week, but jebus crisps, the others just hurt ya.
My partner had it on when i got out of bed. Within two minutes and bbugger-all coffee, i suggested we ditch it and watch the F1 qualifying.
"...i knew you'd spit ya dummy" she says, pissing herself.
The F1 was good.
If it goes to the pool surfers get 4 waves
1 rebate wave if needed highest scoring left and right combo win
Nothing changes, no need for loser round bs_heats,
Never been a volleyball fan but saw beach volleyball live at bondi in Sydney Olympics So good. Tons of music, crowd having fun. I could see the wave pool working like that.
In what other olympic sport are the competitors directly advantaged simply by finding themselves in the right spot on the playing field when nature provides the best chance of a high score?...
Kellys tub has got to be the way forward for fairness of competition.
That sport is called surfing, in a tub it is known as a novelty at best, shizenhousen at anything less.
SteveAny idea how seeding is worked out?based on ISA standings?
If Paris holds surfing in Tahiti, there's nothing stopping Brisbane from holding it in WA
QLD pollies would say QLD has the best beaches in the world and would equivalate that to best surf in the world. No chance they'd let it slip elsewhere.
I mean to be fair southern goldy would be sweet. D'bah would smoke Huntington and Japan for quality in QLD's August / Sept
That Darren Miyagi board looks great under O’Reary sans feet
best comment of the thread, excellent!
Great concept for the wave pool LD. Cos it’s a mechanical man made equal wave everyone has one or limited wave count like a downhill or a half pipe run. It means they have to throw everything at each ride and do away with heat format altogether. Noice unusual different
I have got to draw a line with this crap about wave pools- it is fucken boring and no challenge for these elite surfers. Geez it is frustrating listening to this what happened to balls to wall surfing have we gone soft. You want the best in the best which is NOT A TUB! Cmon all pile on now.
I'm totally anti wave pools becoming the Olympic standard. If surfing is going to be in the Olympics, then it should be real surfing... subject to the same natural conditions faced in all other surfing competitions. If that means it's terrible at times, so be it.
If the Olympic comp is at an A grade wave like chopes or a dogshit beachy like Huntington, I don't think it would matter to the average punter. Check out the numbers on the highlights from YouTube. Swimming is many multiples more popular and even field hockey(!) got more views than surfing. That's just a quick glance and I'd love to see the numbers when all is said and done.
Ironically I think Huntington would be more popular in terms of views because USA is #1! Time will tell. Good article.
Oh yeah, I though Medina's aerial attempts were audacious! He's my pick to win.
It won't compete with those other sports for viewers. It's too long, slow and niche in terms of understanding what is required to do well. Plus Swimming has a long history of being one of THE big sports of the Olympics. But that doesn't mean surfing isn't worthy of inclusion. Doubt too many are watching the Greco Roman Wrestling or shooting either.
Also, field hockey is fucking great viewing.
The plus side of Olympic surfing is the diversity it brings to the rather conservative and sometimes staid world of pro surfing. I love to see the stoke of individuals who have the privilege of competing in an Olympics, it is a spectacle of Olympic proportions that expands the minds and hearts of participants.
thanks steve - you've convinced me to go look at the highlights if I can find them
I think other olympic hosts can find sites (Brisbane = Superbank) etc.
Or failing that (e.g. Germany hosts) it can go to pools. The Five Ring circus has no problem at all building eye wateringly expensive infrastructure and then dismantling it or seeing it mothballed.
Regardless though, I don't see surfing attracting mainstream eyeballs on-site as building stadiums close to the action is vexed. Nor will there be many eyballs live streamed as there's too much waiting between moments of action, the scheduling is condition dependent, and the core audience is niche compared to mainstream sports.
What could keep surfing in the olympics is that in 0-3 second video highlight grabs it plays well. The $$$s involved in the Olympics might mean all the other reasons why surfing isn't a great fit get washed aside - until one day 10-50 years down the road something fresher comes along.
I think some of the pro-surfers might be amongst the most excited by the Olmpics and the prospect of winning an Olmpic gold medal. If multi-world champs like JFF, Steff, Gabs or Kelly were to win gold I think there tag lines would be morhp from 'x-time world champ' to 'x-time world champ and Olympic gold medalist' in plenty of mainstream and perhps some surfing centric media/content/commentary
If I were amongst them I would love that round gold trinket on my mantlepiece
"Teahupoo is a simple wave to surf." - compared to what?
"There were heats surfed of limited competence. Many barrels being dodged and going unridden." - is that because it's not a simple wave to surf?
It's because simple is not easy.
There's a very limited thing you have to do but you have to do it perfectly right.
If you haven't got that skill set then you can't perform that simple function.
Chopes is a simple wave to surf. Take off, pull in, kick out before dry reef.
As Steve said in the next sentence, it's not an easy wave to surf.
Edit: beat me to it FR!
It was super cool seeing Carissa putting it together, it's obvious her backhand tube-riding has improved substantially, she looks like a solid chance. More than what can be said for Tyler and her weird-ass wetsuit combo.
What is that wettie for?
supposedly assists in her below par backhand barrel riding
Thanks Steve for another great surf summary.
I hope the Olympics include bodyboarders; may boost the comp scene.
9NOW may show a rerun of the surf comp at 12.30pm -5pm today...
Why was there two Brazilian women in one heat ?
Little anecdote of non-surfers interest in the sport as a spectacle.
This morning at work, my team slack/chat channel were talking about the Olympics, and someone mentions surfing currently on 9GEM and asking if I was watching it. 2 people chime in essentially saying "the surfing is so boring to watch, it's mostly just them sitting around waiting, occasionally there's a wave". Just not enough action for the casual observer.
Add to that, and this is the same for WSL, there's so much high quality surf content out there these days, in seriously good waves, whereas so often the comps are held in sub-par conditions as they just work with whatever conditions they get in the waiting period. So you consider, do we actually get the peak of the sport to watch when a pro comp is on? We get some of the best surfers no doubt, but the actual spectacle of surfing is often far superior in a free-surfing clip somewhere else in the world where it's pumping.
Surfing will never take off as a spectator sport. It's for surfers only.
Maybe they should make it the best 10 waves, with 4 man heats , that would create a lot more activity.
Was going to comment similarly, Dx3. I’m not sure we realise how little there is in it for the average punter who isn’t a surfer.
What would they make of it? Lots of sitting around waiting for waves, but wait, hold on, they were engaged in a ‘strategic paddle battle for priority’ and missed the first 4 waves for being out of position.
That would drive a non-surfer nuts. It drives the average surfer, apart from Owen Wright, nuts!
Unless you’re invested, it ain’t a great spectacle, until it is.
Golf is often cited as the most boring sport to watch but at least it has regular action.
They need to fix that up pronto.
Flip a coin to start.
I watched them do it in Olympic Table Tennis last night.
No one wants to see them scrabbling around missing waves for half a heat.
“Japan's Reo Inaba rode two deep tubes to get past Rio Waida and Leo Fioravanti.“
So your telling me Reo beat Rio and Leo haha
woops.... Oz Olympic surfer's highlights & Medina magic tricks for the camera...
Camerawork, editing & satellite live feed supurb, considering the location.
Baton Lynch frothing for gold (in commentary...)
Steve silver....atm.
Compare the big budget olympics to Nate Florence’s very low budget content….
Re commentators, I just caught up on the O’Leary san/Ewing heat today. A scary mama of a heat.
Teeth grinding all the way through as Shannon calls him O’Leary Connor, and not Connor O’Leary. She did that repeatedly except the one time. Even Barton Lynch did it once.
Someone is going to tell me that the Japanese always pronounce the last name first. I. Don’t. Care.
Can just barely tolerate her ramblings and that voice, but that put me over the edge.
The mechanics of the Teahup'o reef https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/523467/anatomy-of-a-wave-what-m...