Para Surfing Denied for LA 2028 Olympics, Despite Kelly Slater Backing

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Aug 13, 2024 1:32 PM ET

As the Olympic dust settles from Paris 2024, the world is already looking ahead to Los Angeles 2028. Particularly, with surfing, where will the event be held? Trestles? Huntington Beach? A wave pool? No such announcement has been made as of yet.

When it comes to para surfing – a discipline of surfing in which wave-riders have physical disabilities – the sport has been denied by Paralympic organizers for the LA 2028 Games. However, that doesn’t mean folks have stopped fighting for inclusion.

Specifically, there’s a Change.org petition garnering signatures to reverse the decision to exclude surfing from the LA 2028 Games (at the time of publish, it has just over 19,000 supporters, with the next goal being 25,000).

And Kelly Slater has even offered his support for para surfing’s Olympic addition:

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“If you guys could support para surfing for the Olympics in Los Angeles, it would be great,” the 11x world champion told Victoria Feige, one of the primary advocates for para surfing. “We just need a few signatures, and we’ll get you guys in the water.”

Another major advocate for para surfing in the Olympics – three-time world champion, Liv Stone – expressed her sadness for the situation with her sport at LA 2028, while also showing her determination to continue pushing for future Games.

“When I heard it didn’t get in, I was shocked,” Stone told the AP. “Not just for my career, but for all the other athletes as well. We pushed for over five years to get into the Paris Olympics. Then Paris came and we’re weren’t there ... I realized we need to keep pushing.”

As for the International Surfing Association (ISA), the governing body behind all things Olympic surfing, they, too, support para surfing’s inclusion in LA 2028 and beyond.

In a statement from ISA President Fernando Aguerre, he said:

“We are, of course, disappointed in this news, but as surfers, when we miss a wave, we turn and paddle just as hard for the next one, and we will do the same now with the hope of seeing Para Surfing included in Brisbane in 2032.

“Para surfers are amazing athletes, full of hope and resilience in the face of life’s challenges. We take inspiration from their love of this sport, and reaffirm our commitment to them and to this sport. Just as was the case with Olympic surfing, we will continue to advocate and promote Para Surfing as being worthy of a place on the highest para-sport stage – the Paralympic Games.”

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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