After a contentious back-and-forth between surfing’s foremost institutions and the Championship Tour surfers, the qualification pathway for the LA 2028 Olympics is set. And it begins this week.
While the CT surfers who qualified for the postseason events rest before heading to Portugal, Connor O’Leary and Kanoa Igarashi are traveling to Tahara, Japan to compete in the Asian Games — the first qualifier for the LA 2028 Olympics. The men’s and women’s winners will secure a provisional ticket to the LA 2028 Games.
The two Japanese surfers are among a field of 24 men and 24 women, vying for the Olympic slots at Longbeach in Tahara, Japan, from September 25 to 29. Two surfers per country can compete in the event, which will include representation from other Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Taiwan.
Rio Waida is noticeably absent from the athlete roster. Instead, Indonesia selected Bronson Meydi and I Made Pajar Ariyana to represent their nation.
Waida told The Inertia that he’d been too busy with WSL events to participate in the qualifying process, and it didn’t feel right to take a slot from surfers who had done those events.
“I wanted to give some opportunities to younger guys,” Waida wrote. “They fought hard to get the spot for the Asian Games. They did the qualification every year, and it felt a bit unfair if I just take their dream.”
“So I’m just praying from home and hope they bring the medals back home,” he added.
By not taking the slot, Waida could be forgoing his best shot at qualifying for LA 2028. He’s currently ranked 28th on the CT and missed the postseason qualification cut, so the odds are not in his favor to re-qualify for the 2027 tour.
The tail end of the 2027 tour and the beginning of 2028 will determine who qualifies via the CT rankings. Waida would have to perform well at the season final at Pipeline and significantly improve his position.
Waida’s other option is to compete in the World Surfing Games. The 2028 edition will award seven slots for men. The 2026 and 2027 editions will reserve a slot for the nations that lead the men’s and women’s rankings.
While the women’s CT lacks surfers from Asia, the women’s heat draw will be headlined by Japan’s Amuro Tsuzuki, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, and China’s Siqi Yang, who competed at Paris 2024 at just 15 years old.
It’s worth noting that, since the revised qualification system limited the surfers per country from two to three (with a few caveats), it’s possible the winner of this week’s Asian Games won’t qualify for the Olympics. The 2027-2028 CT and the 2028 World Surfing Games take precedence in the qualification hierarchy. For example, if one of the Indonesians wins, but Rio qualifies on the CT and another Indonesian qualifies at the World Surfing Games, that would supplant the Asian Games.
The current forecast for Tahara is calling for near-flat conditions to kick off the event, with a pulse of swell for the final two days of the window.
See the full list of competitors here.
