The water has now settled on Olympic surfing\u2019s debut, offering a chance to reflect on the landmark event. A close-to-shore typhoon delivered big and stormy conditions at Tsurigasaki beach, meaning paddling, positioning and wave selection were key to success. Brazilian firebrand Italo Ferreira and American ace Carissa Moore both won gold in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s respectively, with Japanese Kanoa Igarashi and South African Bianca Buitendag claiming silver, and Australian Owen Wright and Japanese Amuro Tsuzuki taking bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the medal ceremony Italo Ferreira explained how \u201cthis has been quite a story for me because I started surfing on a (styrofoam) cooler top when I was a kid before I got my first real board and won my first event. Because of my upbringing I have a lot of passion for the sport. I truly believe that the Olympics will change our lives. Not just the medallists, but for all the surfers that competed in this historic event. All surfers made history here. Every surfer has a piece of this gold medal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carrisa Moore added that, \u201cGetting to share the sport with so many people that maybe have never even watched surfing was super special. As a Hawaiian, just seeing Duke Kahanamoku\u2019s dream come true to have surfing in the Olympics is super special. It’s a big time for surfing to be recognised on this level.\u201d Duke Kahanamoku won swimming gold in the 100 metres freestyle at the 1912 Olympics in Sweden. He was built for speed: slim and muscular, blessed with extraordinarily long hands and feet, and had developed the \u2018flutter kick\u2019 to replace the \u2018scissor kick\u2019 in freestyle. Subsequently, he won gold in the same race in 1920 in Antwerp (there were no Games in 1916), and silver in 1924 in Paris, where his brother Samuel won bronze. Touted as the fastest swimmer alive, Duke was invited to give swimming exhibitions around the world, often travelling with a surfboard. He believed surfing should be an Olympic sport. It was a dream later taken up by Argentinian Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association, who has successfully campaigned for the last 30 years to get surfing included into the Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surfing wasn\u2019t the only sport to debut in the latest vision for a more youth-and-entertainment-focused Olympics: skateboarding, BMX and climbing also arrived in style. These were selected to celebrate the revised Olympic motto \u2018faster, higher, stronger, together\u2019. And for British fans, a remarkable feature was the incredible success of Team GB in these action sports, winning two gold, one silver and two bronze medals across BMX and skateboarding (not to mention the medals in snowboarding at the last two Winter Olympics).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These achievements raised the question: what would it take for a British surfer to win an Olympic medal? To find out more, The Wave caught up with Emily Currie and Ed Leigh. Emily is a multiple national short and longboard champion and member of the British surf team. Ed is a former professional snowboarder, co-host of Ski Sunday and the voice of action sports for the BBC, on the frontline of the live broadcast for all of Team GBs action sports across both the Summer and Winter Olympics since London 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“All surfers made history here. Every surfer has a piece of this gold medal” – Italo Ferreira<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ed Leigh<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The key thing<\/em> is<\/em> to identify talent<\/em> at an early age.<\/em> So<\/em> a lot of the best will have started around<\/em> the<\/em> age<\/em> of<\/em> 4,5 or 6.<\/em> Take<\/em> Lukas Skinner as an example in surfing,<\/em> Mia<\/em> Brookes in snowboarding<\/em> and Sky Brown<\/em> in<\/em> skateboarding.<\/em> These kids have all been on boards from a young age,<\/em> and critically the sport is a<\/em> huge<\/em> part of their family.<\/em> I don’t think that<\/em> is something you can work around you<\/em> –<\/em> you need these kids exposed<\/em> at a young age to a very high level.<\/em> For example, Mia Brookes\u2019 parents were both snowboard coaches, so she was exposed to great snowboarding from early on. It\u2019s<\/em> exactly the same<\/em> for Lukas Skinner thanks to his dad Ben. Lukas was around elite level surfing from day dot, so the chances are so much higher to be<\/em> really good.<\/em> There are no shortcuts to being<\/em> in water on waves from a very young age.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But<\/em> on top<\/em> of this<\/em> you need<\/em> decent facilities, which for surfers<\/em> means<\/em> decent<\/em> waves.<\/em> I think<\/em> a surf<\/em> lake can<\/em> do that<\/em> only to a certain extent because<\/em> it will develop<\/em> a<\/em> very specific skill sets, like<\/em> aerial surfing<\/em> (which is of course<\/em> really important).<\/em> So<\/em> you<\/em> have to<\/em> open up<\/em> opportunities<\/em> to a wide<\/em> variety of waves.<\/em> The next thing is then setting elite level goals, and training<\/em> everyday<\/em> to reach those goals. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Emily Currie<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was fantastic to watch all the success<\/em> at<\/em> Tokyo 2020,<\/em> and also<\/em> in<\/em> the snowboarding in the last<\/em> Winter Olympics.<\/em> You can really see how<\/em> a core ingredient is the way<\/em> these sports have<\/em> such<\/em> a<\/em> strong scene, a<\/em> strong<\/em> culture, that surrounds them.<\/em> And<\/em> that<\/em> is definitely<\/em> similar to<\/em> surfing.<\/em> Clearly having successful role models<\/em> who make a breakthrough in competition is important.<\/em> Surely this will now happen with skateboarding after Sky<\/em> Brown won<\/em> bronze.<\/em> That will<\/em> really push the sport a lot further,<\/em> and I think<\/em> this<\/em> helps generate increased funding.<\/em> Sky<\/em> Brown<\/em> has already been a part of our national<\/em> surfing<\/em> junior teams and events, and for sure if she<\/em> commits more to surfing,<\/em> it’s an exciting opportunity that will<\/em> give British surfing more attention<\/em> because of the status she already has.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ed Leigh<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All these action sports<\/em> share a lot in common. For example,<\/em> there<\/em> was<\/em> no money in snowboarding or BMX for these<\/em> original<\/em> medal<\/em> successes.<\/em> They have<\/em> come from hard<\/em> work and<\/em> passion<\/em> in sports with<\/em> rich and strong cultures.<\/em> But then you need a framework to build on<\/em> the breakthrough successes<\/em> through<\/em> coaching. Some successes have been freak talent, like<\/em> snowboarder<\/em> Jenny Jones, who won a bronze in the slopestyle at the 2014<\/em> Winter Olympics in Sochi. But<\/em> in the case of Billy Morgan\u2019s medal<\/em> (in snowboard big air in 2018 in Beijing),<\/em> and<\/em> BMXers<\/em> Charlotte Worthington, Bethany<\/em> Shriever, Kye Whyte<\/em> and<\/em> Declan<\/em> Brooks<\/em> (golds, silver and bronze in freestyle and racing in Tokyo 2020),<\/em> its<\/em> about<\/em> legacy. People have paved the way with programs for the talent to follow. For example,<\/em> Lesley McKenna, a<\/em> previous Olympian,<\/em> set up a brilliant programme within snowboarding that allowed Billy Morgan to flourish and win his bronze medal in snowboarding in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was<\/em> exactly the same<\/em> in the BMX. Jamie<\/em> Bestwick,<\/em> the coach of Declan and<\/em> Charlotte, has been<\/em> a<\/em> prolific<\/em> X-Games medallist who<\/em> is passionate about developing talent.<\/em> He<\/em> sacrificed<\/em> a lot so the pair could compete<\/em> abroad<\/em> to gain experience,<\/em> and he’s built programmes to<\/em> develop his athletes and to goal set<\/em> at the highest level.<\/em> So<\/em> in the UK,<\/em> having<\/em> really good<\/em> surfers to coach the young<\/em> talent<\/em> is critical.<\/em> I think that<\/em> is the thing that most recent medals have got in common<\/em> \u2013 excellent coaching.<\/em> And there\u2019s<\/em> no substitute for<\/em> great coaching from people who have been extremely talented in their own discipline.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Emily Currie<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s inspiring to see that these action sports can win medals<\/em> at the highest level. And that gives us belief that we can do the same with surfing.<\/em> I do a lot of coaching work with<\/em> Surf<\/em> Solutions<\/em> run by<\/em> Joel Grey,<\/em> and I really know the difference that good coaching can make with<\/em> performance<\/em> and also<\/em> the psychology of sport. This has been happening in those other sports.<\/em> But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s just about coaching small groups<\/em> for surfing.<\/em> I think it’s<\/em> important<\/em> to get a<\/em> really strong<\/em> and<\/em> big squad for British surfing.<\/em> This allows the talent to be supported<\/em> that might not shine otherwise. If you just select a small<\/em> group<\/em> you might miss the best talent<\/em> because there are people who will thrive with broader funding<\/em> and coaching over a longer term. Then it\u2019s about getting the squad on training trips to get comfortable in all kinds of waves.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ed Leigh<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are so<\/em> many<\/em> interesting<\/em> discussions to be had on this.<\/em> Yes<\/em> it would have been a great legacy for Tokyo to have run the event in a wave pool<\/em> or surf lake, but I think the ocean was better.<\/em> Of course<\/em> they are<\/em> incredible learning facilities<\/em> that can give hours<\/em> and repetition<\/em> on a surfboard<\/em> you cannot get in the ocean,<\/em> but<\/em> events only in these facilities<\/em> will change the<\/em> way people perform. I think<\/em> you<\/em> will end up with boards that are designed<\/em> especially<\/em> for<\/em> lip tricks<\/em> creating a<\/em> much more skate orientated<\/em> approach and<\/em> a<\/em> heavy focus on airs. That\u2019s fine,<\/em> that\u2019s exciting,<\/em> but I think the ocean remains the place for surf events<\/em> because of all the other parameters of paddling and wave selection.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I like to look at it this way:<\/em> if you’re in a wave pool every wave<\/em> could be considered<\/em> a<\/em> perfect<\/em> What do you think are the core ingredients that generate Olympic success for British action sports?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What do you think surfing can learn from the likes of snowboarding and BMX to develop a better plan to impact at the Olympic level of competition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do you think wave pools and surf lakes would be better territory for Olympic surfing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n