Qualifying for Tokyo 2020: How does it work?
The ISA has crafted a qualification process with approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Surfing’s Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, ensuring the participation of the world’s best professional surfers as well as promoting universal opportunities for surfers from around the world at the Games.
Watch the video below to learn how surfers will qualify.
The key elements of the qualification system are as follows:
- 20 men, 20 women.
- Maximum of 2 surfers per gender per National Olympic Committee (NOC).
- Qualification spots will be earned on an individual basis, by name.
- In accordance with IOC guidelines, the qualification events have been determined in hierarchical order of qualification, as further explained below; If two surfers of a gender have qualified through the first hierarchical order, that NOC will not be able to qualify more surfers of that gender through qualifying events lower in hierarchical order.
- All surfers selected by their respective National Federations for their national teams must participate in 2019 and/or 2020 ISA World Surfing Games in order to be eligible for Olympic qualification. The final details of the eligibility requirements are still under review by the ISA and the IOC.
The hierarchical order of qualification will be as follows:
- 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour: First 10 eligible men and first 8 eligible women.
- 2020 ISA World Surfing Games: First 4 eligible men and first 6 eligible women.
- 2019 ISA World Surfing Games: 4 men and 4 women selected based on their continent. Top finishing eligible surfer of each gender from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
- 2019 Pan American Games: First eligible man and first eligible woman in the surfing competitions.
- Host nation slot: One man and one woman slot will be guaranteed for the host nation of Japan, unless already filled through the above hierarchies. Should athletes from Japan qualify regularly, their slots will be reallocated to the highest ranked eligible surfers from the 2020 World Surfing Games.
View the complete qualification process
Follow the links below the view the complete qualification process for the Surfing competition in Tokyo 2020.
View qualification document in English / Ver documento de clasificación en español.
How does a surfer become eligible to compete in Tokyo 2020?
Read the official Eligibility and Nomination Requirements to learn about guidelines for a surfer to retain eligibility and become nominated by their National Federation.