Although Trident hasn’t yet formed a definitive opinion on our beloved sport/lifestyle/artform/waste of time/greatest pleasure known to man or beast being included in the Olympics for the first time, we’re kinda swaying towards “it’s a good thing.” Perhaps we’re slightly based, seeing as our home girl Bianca did exceedingly well as evidenced in our article here (balanced by our earlier article, pre-actual competition here). For all we know, there may be some negative fallout nobody considered yet to come, but all in all – we’re giving Olympic surfing a tentative thumbs up. However, there are several aspects of Olympic surfing that just out and out sucked. Things such as:
Number 1: The waves themselves.
Duh. Although we can grudgingly accept the waves were actually pretty damn competitive (and trust us dear readers, we’ve watched surf heats from trestles through to Europe that had waves resembling crumpled tissues), the Olympic waves were pretty sub par. There was talk of competing in a wavepool, which left this author cold, but would’ve lent a degree of not only levelling the playing field – but providing the kind of launch pad favoured by Medina and eventual Men’s Gold winner Italo. Instead, we had waves about as pretty as the bins behind a fish processing plant. Yay.
Number 2: The lack of Jordy.
(Or any other male surfer for that matter). Another Duh. We honestly don’t get it. Yes, we hear you cry: “But Trident, there was a proper qualifying process and all.” Ja, ja, I don’t care, I can’t hear you – blah blah blah. None of that matters when you consider that any one of our dozens of talented QS guys coulda stepped up to fill Jordy’s place. Not to mention we actually happen to have another CT athlete on tour in the form of Matt. How we had no official Men’s team makes as much sense as Lord Voldemort campaigning for the next US presidential election.
Number 3: The probable lack of understanding/appeal to the broader public.
The commentators did their level best. Indeed, a darn sight better than the general WSL commentators who could learn a bucketload from the Olympic guys who explained manoeuvres with zero smugness and one hundred percent enthusiasm. However, it remains to be seen what impact (if any at all) surfing’s inclusion in the world’s most elegant sporting event will have on its popularity. Nevertheless, Trident remains pretty convinced many other more traditional sportsmen and women still consider surfing to be a novelty, and lacking in the prestige of say – showjumping. Which is absolute nonsense of course, ‘coz you never see the horses winning medals, do you?
Number 4: The coverage.
Trident just about had a conniption with the number of friends WhatsApping and either demanding a link to the live heats or to know which dstv channel it was on. For the last time, to be clear – we know as much as you do. To be fair, perhaps it’s not the fault of Multichoice nor the Olympic organisers themselves, yet neither local okes nor the WSL did much good in promoting when and where to watch the eats. We expect better in Paris next time girls and boys.
Number 5: The controversy of surfing’s inclusion in the first place.
We’ve made our case for this already folks. Now it’s up to you to decide. Our 2 cents is – “why the hell not?” Yet, it still doesn’t change the fact the decision to make surfing an Olympic sport was controversial in the extreme in the first instance. Trident’s personal belief is the sport of kings really is head and shoulders above all other sports. We therefore fail to see how the rest of the worlds spectators can disagree – but that’s not up to us.
