Column: Igarashi a good bet to surf in 2020 Olympics

The Winter Olympics are in full swing, and that can mean only one thing: The Summer Olympics are just two short years away.

While the skiers, snowboarders, skaters and bobsledders are getting attention now, the 2020 Summer Games in Japan will feature surfing for the first time, and Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi made a decision this week that likely will put him in the water in Chiba, Japan, with a chance to win Olympic hardware.

Igarashi announced this week he has decided to surf the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) season under the flag of Japan, which was the first step to all but ensure his chances at qualifying for the Games.

Here’s why: The top 10 male surfers on the CT at the end of the 2019 season quality for the Olympics, with a maximum of two per country. So if we used the 2017 CT season as a reference, the U.S. qualifiers would be Hawaii’s John John Florence (ranked No. 1) and San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino (ranked No. 7).

Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz (No. 11) also finished ahead of Igarashi (No. 17) among the Americans.

Igarashi, however, has dual citizenship (U.S. and Japan), as both his parents (Tom and Misa) were born in Japan. There are no other Japanese surfers currently on the CT, meaning Igarashi would qualify by surfing for Japan.

There’s another way Igarashi could make it if somehow he doesn’t qualify for the 2019 CT season. As the host country, Japan will be able to name one man and one woman to the Olympic team without having to qualify in any other way.

“The Olympics is the greatest competition in sports,” Igarashi said on the WSL’s Instagram page. “It’s not just surfing, it’s all sports and it’s something you dream of doing as a kid. I never thought it would be possible as a surfer.

“I always dreamed of biting that gold medal like all those Olympians do. I didn’t think it would be possible in my time but with this new 2020 Olympics in Japan I was shocked and excited. Right away I thought, ‘How can I get into the Olympics?’ It’s a really exciting time for surfing and for our sport. I’m really excited for the opportunity and I hope everyone in Japan is as well.”

Igarashi is well known in the surfing world, but his notoriety in Japan transcends what he can do in the water. He’s a celebrity in Japan, helped not only by his surfing exploits but also from a few years starring in a reality show on Japanese television.

“I am proud to surf for Japan,” Igarashi told wsl.com. “My parents are Japanese, my whole family is Japanese. I have a lot of support and fans over there.

“I grew up competing for USA and have a lot of support over here, but this is a different part of my career now.”

Courting the Olympics

Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue is another local who stands a good chance of qualifying for the 2020 Games.

In fact, if the Olympic team was chosen based on the 2017 season, Conlogue would qualify. She finished No. 4 in the world but was the highest ranking American. The other U.S. qualifier would be Hawaii’s Carissa Moore (ranked No. 5).

Other Americans who certainly will give Conlogue competition for a spot are Santa Barbara’s Lakey Peterson, Ojai’s Sage Erickson and Hawaii’s Tatiana Weston-Webb.

Olympic possibilities

If the Summer Games were held this year, here are the CT surfers who would qualify based on the 2017 season via agreement reached by the International Surfing Association and World Surf League:

Men — Florence and Andino (U.S.), Gabriel Medina and Adriano de Souza (Brazil), Julian Wilson and Matt Wilkinson (Australia), Jordy Smith (South Africa), Frederico Morais (Portugal), Jeremy Flores (France) and Igarashi (Japan).

The remaining 10 spots would be filled by the results of the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games (four spots), the 2020 ISA World Surfing Games (four spots), the winner of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and one spot for host nation Japan.

For those CT surfers who don’t qualify — for example, Australia’s Owen Wright finished No. 6 in the world in 2017, but two Aussies finished ahead of him and filled Australia’s two spots — they would have a chance to qualify by surfing in the World Surfing Games.

Women — Tyler Wright and Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), Conlogue and Moore (U.S.), Johanne Defay and Paulina Ado (France), Silvana Lima (Brazil) and Bianca Buitendag (South Aftrica).

The remaining 12 spots would by filled by the results of the ISA World Games in 2019 (five spots) and 2020 (five spots), the winner of the 2019 Pan American Games and the one spot for host nation Japan.

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.