Surfers Competing In The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies are set to begin on Friday July 23, 2021. 40 surfers (20 men and 20 women) from countries all over the world will be competing for the first time on sports' biggest stage for a coveted gold medal.

The Olympic qualification process back began in 2019 and didn't conclude until just a couple months ago. Countries are only allowed to bring two men and two women to compete. Of the 40 available spots, 18 surfers from the 2019 Championship Tour made the cut based on their year-end rankings. There are eight surfers that qualified via the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games, 12 from the 2021 ISA World Surfing Games, and 2 from the 2019 Pan American Games.

Here's who you'll see waving the flag for their respective countries (in alphabetical order) when the Games begin:

Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti. - Sean Evans / ISA

Argentina

Leandro Usuna: #15 WSL South American Qualifying Series

Australia

Julian Wilson: #17 WSL Championship Tour
Owen Wright: #20 WSL Championship Tour
Sally Fitzgibbons: #3 WSL Championship Tour
Stephanie Gilmore: #5 WSL Championship Tour

Brazil

Gabriel Medina: #1 WSL Championship Tour
Italo Ferreira: #2 WSL Championship Tour
Tatiana Weston-Webb: #4 WSL Championship Tour
Silvana Lima: #2 WSL South American Qualifying Series

Gabriel Medina loosening up before the start of competition on a small-wave Lost Round Nose Fish. - Sean Evans / ISA

Chile

Manuel Selman: #85 WSL South American Qualifying Series

Costa Rica

Brisa Hennessy: #15 WSL Championship Tour
Leilani McGonagle: #7 WSL North American Qualifying Series

Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy Leilani McGonagle share a smile during warmups at the Olympic surfing venue. - Sean Evans / ISA

Ecuador

Dominic Barona: #5 WSL South American Qualifying Series

France

Jeremy Flores: #25 WSL Championship Tour
Michel Bourez: #29 WSL Championship Tour
Johanne Defay: #2 WSL Championship Tour
Pauline Ado: #2 WSL European Qualifying Series

Germany

Leon Glatzer: #32 WSL European Qualifying Series

Indonesia

Rio Waida: #2 WSL Asia Qualifying Series

Israel

Anat Lelior: #14 WSL European Qualifying Series

Anat Leilor, the lone surfer for Israel. - Sean Evans / ISA

Italy

Leonardo Fioravanti: #17 WSL Championship Tour

Japan

Kanoa Igarashi: #6 WSL Championship Tour
Hiroto Ohhara: #5 WSL Asia Qualifying Series
Mahina Maeda: #2 WSL Asia Qualifying Series
Amuro Tsuzuki: #5 WSL Asia Qualifying Series

Hometown hero Hiroto Ohhara hopes to give the Japanese Olympic fans much to cheer about when competition is called on. - Sean Evans / ISA

Morocco

Ramzi Boukhiam: #4 WSL European Qualifying Series

New Zealand

Billy Stairmand: #12 WSL Australia/ Oceania Qualifying Series
Ella Williams: #47 WSL Australia/ Oceania Qualifying Series

Peru

Miguel Tudela: #26 WSL North American Qualifying Series
Lucca Mesinas: #3 WSL North American Qualifying Series
Daniella Rosas: #1 WSL South American Qualifying Series
Sofía Mulánovich: 2004 World Champion

Portugal

Frederico Morais: #11 WSL Championship Tour
Yolanda Sequeira: #10 WSL European Qualifying Series
Teresa Bonvalot: #7 WSL European Qualifying Series

South Africa

Bianca Buitendag: #4 2015 WSL Championship Tour

United States

John John Florence: #10 WSL Championship Tour
Kolohe Andino: #38 WSL Championship Tour
Carissa Moore: #1 WSL Championship Tour
Caroline Marks: #6 WSL Championship Tour

United States' Kolohe Andino is back from injury and has been looking especially sharp during warmups. - Ben Reed / ISA