Six Additional Surfers Confirmed for Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Jack Robinson (AUS), João Chianca (BRA), Matthew McGillivray (RSA), Molly Picklum (AUS), Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX) and Reo Inaba (JPN) secure slots
Final slot available on the World Surf League Championship Tour to be decided between Caroline Marks and Caitlin Simmers at the 2023 Rip Curl WSL Finals
8 women’s and 6 men’s slots to be decided during the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, along with an additional national slot for the highest ranked men’s and women’’s teams

The ISA is thrilled to confirm six additional Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers after the final day of competition for the Tahiti Pro.

The 2023 CT awards Paris 2024 qualification slots to the top 10 men and top 8 women, with a limit of two surfers per gender, per nation.

It will be the first Olympic Games experience for all six surfers who qualified; Jack Robinson (AUS), João Chianca (BRA), Matthew McGillivray (RSA), Molly Picklum (AUS), Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX) and Reo Inaba (JPN).

Robinson and Picklum will join Ethan Ewing and Tyler Wright on the Australian team for Paris 2024. Their impressive performances at the Olympic Surfing venue of Teahupo’o for the Tahiti Pro, Quarter Finals for Picklum and the event win for Robinson, secured their places in the top two highest ranking Australians on the CT.

Robinson’s defeat of Gabriel Medina (BRA) in the Tahiti Pro Final handed Chianca his slot and the 22-year-old will join Filipe Toledo and Tatiana Weston-Webb in representing Brazil for Paris 2024.

Day two of the event was stressful for McGillivray. His loss in the Elimination Round left him waiting for the final heat of the day to find out if he would hold onto his ranking above Rio Waida (INA). A loss in the Round of 16 from Waida cemented McGillivray’s slot and he will now join Jordy Smith and Sarah Baum on the South African Olympic team.

Alan Cleland Jr and Reo Inaba were both able to claim their slots thanks to the qualifications by Kanoa Igarashi and Jordy Smith through the WSL CT.

As both Smith and Igarashi had also qualified through the 2023 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games (WSG) due to their placings as the highest ranked surfers from their respective continents, this double-qualification opened up slots for the highest qualified surfers beneath them out of the 2023 WSG.

Inaba was the next highest ranked representative from the continent of Asia, which meant he was next in line for Igarashi’s slot. Meanwhile, Smith was the only representative from the continent of Africa to place high enough in the 2023 WSG to qualify for the slot, which left it to go to the highest ranked surfer overall, Cleland Jr., who was the winner of the 2023 WSG.

Cleland Jr. will be Mexico’s first Olympic surfing representative. The 21-year-old has a proven track record in waves of consequence and his carefree approach as a surfer is likely to bring a unique element to the Olympic Games.

The qualification of both Igarashi and Inaba means that a third men’s surfer from Japan will be chosen for Paris 2024 as a result of the Japanese men’s team earning an extra slot by ranking highest in the 2022 ISA WSG. The process of selection for that surfer will be decided by the Japan National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Nippon Surfing Association.

All earned Paris 2024 slots are subject to nomination by the respective NOC and meeting the ISA Olympic Eligibility Requirements.

ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:

“It is so exciting to see these surfers qualify for their first Olympics, especially as the opportunity opened up for Alan and Reo, who have been watching and hoping from afar for months after their great performances at World Surfing Games”.

“There is now just a single slot left available through the WSL CT, but the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico is an opportunity for a large group of surfers to chase their Olympic dreams. The opportunity will also be available in Puerto Rico for the highest ranked men’s team and highest ranked women’s team to win an extra slot for their nation.”

“This was my first time in Teahupoo (not in Tahiti), and it was an amazing and unforgettable experience, starting with the warm people, the massive waves, and the always present smell of the flowers. The history making decision of Teahupoo in French Polynesia, as the Olympic Surfing venue, will be one to remember for the rest of our lives, for sure. Maururu Tahiti!”