The Olympic Heat Draw Is Live And 3 Of The CT’s Best Female Tube Riders Are In The Same First Heat… 

The first round of heats have officially been drawn for the Paris Olympics 2024. The ISA released the teaser for the first round of competition set to take place over a 10-day window, from 27 July to 8 August, in Teahupo’o, Tahiti earlier this week. 

The two key takeaways are as follows:

1.) There has been absolutely no seeding based on how each Olympian qualified, which is why World #2 (Caity), #3 (Molly) and #7 (Tati) are in the same first heat. One of these girls will lose early based the format expanded upon below.

2.) The two mysterious universality spots were awarded to El Salvador’s Bryan Perez and Nicaragua’s Candelaria Resano — two countries that are typically underrepresented in the Olympics. For the 2024 Games, the International Olympic Committee reserved 102 universality slots across all sports. Since this is only surfing’s second time in the Olympics, it was up to the ISA to decide who those last two coveted spots should go to. 

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The 24 athletes of each gender slated to compete will be divided into 8 heats comprised of three athletes. The winner of each heat will advance to the round of 16, while the remaining two will compete in a head-to-head surf off to eliminate each other. The semifinals and finals determine the medalists. The final heat decides the gold and silver medalists, while the losers of the semifinals compete for the bronze.

Make sense? You can view the opening round heat draw below.

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WOMEN’S SURFING HEAT DRAW FOR PARIS 2024

• Heat 1: Yolanda Hopkins (POR), Caroline Marks (USA), Sarah Baum (RSA)
• Heat 2: Sol Aguirre (PER), Janire Etxabarri (ESP), Vahine Fierro (FRA)
• Heat 3: Anat Lelior (ISR), Sanoa Dempfle-Olin (CAN), Tyler Wright (AUS)
• Heat 4: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA), Molly Picklum (AUS), Caitlin Simmers (USA)
• Heat 5: Johanne Defay (FRA), Brisa Hennessy (CRC), Candelaria Resano (NCA)
• Heat 6: Tainá Hinckel (BRA), Camila Kemp (GER), Luana Silva (BRA)
• Heat 7: Nadia Erostarbe (ESP), Siqi Yang (CHN), Saffi Vette (NZL)
• Heat 8: Carissa Moore (USA), Teresa Bonvalot (POR), Matsuda Shino (JPN)

MEN’S SURFING HEAT DRAW FOR PARIS 2024

• Heat 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS), Tim Elter (GER), Jordy Smith (RSA)
• Heat 2: Joan Duru (FRA), Jack Robinson (AUS), Matthew McGillivray (RSA)
• Heat 3: Alonso Correa (PER), Filipe Toledo (BRA), Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
• Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Connor O’Leary (JPN), Bryan Perez (ESA)
• Heat 5: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Billy Stairmand (NZL), João Chianca (BRA)
• Heat 6: Andy Criere (ESP), John John Florence (USA), Alan Cleland (MAR)
• Heat 7: Kauli Vaast (FRA), Lucca Mesinas (PER), Griffin Colapinto (USA)
• Heat 8: Rio Waida (INA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Inaba Reo (JPN)

We’ll have an expert-lead Olympics predictions piece coming soon. But why not leverage the wisdom of a crowd? Drop your expected medallists below.