Surfing is still a relatively new addition to the Olympic sports lineup. The World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) promised to be as exhilarating as ever. After being in the news for all kinds of ridiculous reasons, the league has one thing going right this season: ten regular-season events in seven nations narrowing down its champion choices. The global event commenced on October 1 to put together the final 8 women for their journey to the iconic Olympic site in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

The contest began with the world’s top 48 surfers rapidly increasing the heat at the challenger as the ending came close. The American women’s team is putting up an exciting display in the 16 surfers’ lineup which is recently been announced.

Surfing stars move closer to Olympics dream

The EDP Vissla Pro Ericeira is pulling all the surfing community’s attention with the final names headed to the finals announced. WSL shared the final team standing on Twitter (X) recently, with American surfers including teen sensation Bella Kenworthy, the 2023 Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro champion, Alyssa Spencer, and No. 1 and No. 2 Women’s QS 2023?2024, Sawyer Lindblad, and Zoe Benedetto.

Benedetto was the last of the names to secure her spot joining the 15 surfers with her brilliant 16.00 score. Even earning a spot in the earlier Round of 32, she opened her surf in Portugal with a first-wave surfing victory. Despite the highest score win in the whole event by Benedetto, the American surfing squad is edged by Australian dominance heading to round 16 with 5 surfers, one more than America.

At the end of the 2023 season, the WSL CT rankings from the Billabong Pro Pipeline and the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro gave away the allocation of 18 out of the 48 slots at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – 8 for women. The WSL CT is a crucial event for the top surfers in the world now as it represents the highest point of the Olympic qualification system. While the world’s best surfers vying for the final spot for the Games, did you know about the WSL year so far?

World Surfing League’s drama so far

In recent months, the World Surf League has been embroiled in controversy. Following closely contested matches at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch Pro, Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina expressed their frustration with the judges on social media. Medina suggested that Brazilian surfers often face unfair treatment from the WSL. The surfers’ threats towards WSL judges and employees raised serious concerns, prompting Erik Logan, the CEO of WSL at the time, to step in and clarify the scoring process.

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After Erik Logan, the former president of WSL, was fired mid-season, a new issue emerged. With the WSL relocating to Teahupo’o, the site of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Paris, there are still a few Olympic seats available. To ensure transparency for surfing enthusiasts, the WSL recently shared information on social media regarding the Olympic qualification process. Now as the last CT comes to wrapping up, which country will you be cheering for this Games?

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