Surfers Jordy Smith, Matthew McGillivray and Sarah Baum Provisionally Qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024

• Smith and McGillivray Provisionally Qualified Through the WSL Championship Tour
• Baum Provisionally Qualified Through ISA World Surfing Games
• Qualification Subject to Nomination by SASCOC

Jordy Smith (RSA) and Matthew McGillivray (RSA) have qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 through the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT). This comes after the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown, the penultimate event of the WSL 2023 CT, wrapped up on Wednesday. Sarah Baum (RSA) qualified earlier this year at the International Surfing Association (ISA) 2023 World Surfing Games in El Salvador.

Smith and McGillivray Provisionally Qualified Through the WSL Championship Tour

Though this marks Jordy Smith’s second Olympic qualification, he will debut in 2024 after an injury prevented him from competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.

A two-time winner of the Corona Open J-Bay in South Africa, Smith’s recent performance in his home country event has secured the 35-year-old’s spot on Team South Africa. He is currently ranked No. 16 in the world.

In his 15th season on the WSL CT, Smith continues over a decade of top-tier performances. The Durban, South Africa-born competitor began his road to the Olympics after winning the 2006 WSL World Junior Championship, which he followed up with the 2007 World Qualifying Series Champion title to qualify for the Championship Tour. Since then, Smith has won six WSL CT events and was the runner-up for the World Title twice. His performance in the 2023 season has seen him take top ten in six tour events.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeffreys Bay’s Matthew McGillivray’s four top-ten finishes during the 2023 CT season secured his provisional qualification on Team South Africa. The 26-year-old is currently ranked 19th in the world. 

McGillivray finished his 2019 season as number four in the Men’s Qualifying Series. The previous year, he surfed on the Championship Tour for the first time as a wildcard at the Corona Open J-Bay. In his third full season on the Championship Tour, McGillivray continues to improve each season. During the 2022 CT season, McGillivray impressed judges by executing a difficult airdrop, earning him a perfect score of ten on the iconic wave Teahupo’o. The same wave will be featured in the upcoming Olympic Games. 

Baum Provisionally Qualified Through ISA World Surfing Games

Sarah Baum, who grew up in Durban but resides in Newcastle, Australia, secured her provisional qualification on Team South Africa after being the top-ranked female African surfer at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games. 

The 29-year-old will make her Olympic debut, following in the footsteps of Bianca Buitendag, who won surfing’s first silver medal at Tokyo 2020.

Baum has been securing impressive results on the WSL Qualifying Series and Challenger Series this year in her goal to qualify for the CT. She received a wild card in the Corona Open JBay, where she finished with an incredible 5th place. 

Surfing will return to the Summer Olympic Games after making its 2020 Olympic debut in Tokyo. The competition will be held on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti at the iconic wave of Teahupo’o. Teahupo’o will be a familiar venue to WSL surfers as it is a featured stop on the WSL CT.

The WSL CT, the highest level of competitive surfing that crowns the World Champions, is surfing’s tier-one qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games. WSL will provisionally qualify the first ten men and eight women for Paris 2024. Learn more about Surfing’s Olympic Qualification process.

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.