Surfing’s re-entry manoeuvre to the Olympics has gained momentum with the support of AOC president John Coates, who praised its environmental and telegenic appeal and attractiveness to youth.

While it may be too soon to see Australian surfboard riders winning gold medals off the Cornish coast when London hosts the 2012 Games, Coates, an International Olympic Committee member, admitted the Games movement was seeking to broaden its appeal away from stadium-based team sports.

"Clearly surfboard riding should receive consideration as an Olympic program sport," he said.

"It is obviously popular with our youth, many of whom are interested in less structured sports, and we need to connect with our youth."

Surfboard riding made an approach to join the 2000 Sydney Olympics program, only to be beaten by triathlon.

Now the sport has made another push. Association of Surfing Professionals president Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew said recently that the sport had global appeal to the younger generation.

"It's time for the Olympic body to have a look at what youth are doing today in the new millennium, what sports are really relevant," he said.

"Are sports from 60 years ago truly relevant to the world today?

"And the thing is, [surfing] easily follows the criteria. There's over 100 nations that surf. It is truly a global sport."

Coates pointed to the spectacular success of events such as snowboarding at the Winter Olympics as an indicator of surfing's potential. If snowboarding is surfing on snow, the halfpipe is the equivalent of negotiating a heavy shore break at Bondi and the giant slalom is riding a big wave at Waimea Bay.

"Already we've seen in our Winter Olympic teams examples of surfboard riders making a successful transition," Coates said of Torino Olympic Games snowboarders Andrew Burton and Johanna Shaw.

He also noted surfing's good fit with the IOC in terms of environmental feathering and potential to boost TV rights income.

"Environmentally, it is very good but is limited to cities or countries with surf," he said. "One problem is the importance of holding the sports on the Olympic program in the host city.

"There have been examples, such as sailing and equestrian for the Beijing Olympics being on the Chinese coast and Hong Kong, but it is always a concern for the IOC."

Surfing's gender spread is also an advantage, with the percentage of surfers who are female increasing over the past decade from 8 per cent to 25 per cent.

The chance of surfing making future Olympic programs depends on the sport's ability to find a channel to European countries, heavily represented on the IOC.

"Obviously a lot of work will need to be done to convince the IOC the sport is sufficiently universal, having regard to the preponderance of landlocked countries in Europe," Coates said.

ASP officials say their amateur body has 101 affiliated national organisations, with the pro tour taking in all continents.

"Russians surf on the Black Sea, the sport is popular off Tel Aviv and there are great waves on the west coast of England from the tip of Cornwall to Wales," said Graham Cassidy, the former ASP CEO who lobbied for surfing at Sydney 2000. Cassidy said the IOC could enter surfing at Beijing 2008.

"There are six or seven spots on Hong Kong which are surfable," he said.

Roy Masters
Fairfax