At which Olympic Games did surfing make its debut as an official sport?

Surfing made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

The Games were officially called Tokyo 2020 even though the competitions were postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surfing was held at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba, east of Tokyo, rather than on an artificial wave.

Both men’s and women’s shortboard competitions were included. Athletes surfed heats, with judges scoring the quality and difficulty of their selected waves. The format brought a traditional ocean sport into the Olympic program while preserving the importance of wave choice and timing.

Surfing had been considered for earlier Olympic programs but was not included before Tokyo. The 2024 Paris Olympics again featured surfing, but the events took place in Teahupoʻo, Tahiti, in French Polynesia.