Bleak.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy and that all took a nasty turn quickly. As you know, the World Surfing Games in El Salvador kicked off yesterday under a grey cloud of frustration and rage. The International Surfing Association, which is in charge of the Olympic qualification, and its chief, Fernando Aguerre, had pressed advantage ahead of the Tokyo Games in wresting power back from the World Surf League and was forcing every Olympic-bound surfer to attend the entirely of the World Surf Games including the opening and closing ceremonies.
Kelly Slater exempted due a years old foot injury.
The WSL and Surfers’ Union were allegedly furious about the power grab and tried to assuage Aguerre in many ways, hoping they might be able to change his mind and not have those already qualified WSL surfers travel excessively.
No dice.
And now all the surfers are there but, as unluck would have it, Covid-19 cases are said to be raging amongst the competitors forcing Australia’s deadly Irukandjis to opt to skip the opening ceremonies thereby putting their Olympic dreams on the line.
Per Surfing Australia’s Instagram post:
@theirukanjis have arrived safely in El Salvador and are self isolating amidst the news of active Covid cases in and around the @isasurfing World Surfing Games. On the advice of @ausolympicteam the team did not attend the Opening Ceremony to mitigate risk. The team is optimistic regarding the current situation. @owright @stephaniegilmore @sally_fitz @julian_wilson @ryancallinan
Oh boy oh boy oh boy.
Do you think chief Aguerre will bend on his initial demands of full participation or strike the Australian team from Tokyo thereby breaking the heart of a nation?
Also, that hotel lobby looks pretty bleak. I can just picture the rooms featuring boxy televisions with three Spanish language channels and a fan spinning languidly overhead.
Live footage of Ryan Callinan enjoying isolation?
Maybe Sally Fitz?
Bleak.
But also important as Aguerre has promised surfing, and the World Surfing Games, will bring peace to Ireland and England.
Worth the pain.
Lookimg like a
sevens cricket team
1/5 shaka stoked
I’m just a little pro surfing over it after watching a hour and a bit of the “ product “ in Western Australia.
I’ve watched paint dry with a more interesting story line.
Two surfers bobbing up and down next to each other isn’t quite the gladiator spectacular westerly/ droyne dreamed off.
I’ll pass
El Salvador is Spanish for …The Salvador!
or
a Salvador..
Who’s the Shaka dude in the middle ?
fit Sally
OK Chas , did Australia’s Olympic surf team , have enough funding to get vaccinated before they left Australia?
Was the federal grant of $6m for the OZ team enough to cover vaccinations , or was it used taking 30 + people to Kelly’s tub to train for the Olympics , because we all know Kelly’s tub will be used for the Olympics! ( I read that somewhere!)
Man if I was a competitor & picked up the covid, I’d sue the shit out of the ISA!
I wonder how many are watching this one.
“An average event for us in terms of our digital and also linear distributions is about 10 million”
Fantasy figures from Elo throughout this interview surely.
https://thesportssection.co…
Fuken hell
What a cunt
Kelly Slater exempted due a(4) years old foot injury.
Color commentary. – when they don’t say the name of the surfer. *or, how to learn your colors in Español **just sane!
Should have sent taj
Wait and welcome to Brazil, you all motherfuckers!
I envite you too “Tajamos” (the always pretending champ about something…)
We have here, 03 strains and variants of the Virus, as your wish, to your choice and whoever wants to appear here.
Good luck!
Go to vaccine in the second week of June, more precisely tuesday 08.
Astra Zeneca, CoronaVac, Pfizer, whatever is at hand.
I’ll be applauding and laughing at the all denialists, all the unsuspecting, or little lambs that follow orders, that arrive here!
Test your luck and place your bets! In my case, I would prefer to do this in Vegas or Monaco.
To the intelligent ones, with a little empathy for others, not obscurantists, and who still believe in science, stay well and safe, protect themselves and yours.
Good luck.
Greetings from El Salvador! The vibe on the beach is epic! Waves are pumping, both contest zones are providing plenty of action. This is going to be a great week of surfing!
Throwin shade on Kelly’s IG. Loving it!
What’s the death squad forecast like?
How much coronavirus is getting around?
What’s the catch?
Aguerre has already brought peace to Ireland! Long live The Good Friday Agreement!
Hotelroomdescription. Classic. +perfect.
I’m sure they were disappointed to miss the Sands of the World ceremony. Not kidding they actually did that.
Currently watching the first day of competition. The level isn’t amazing but the waves are kind of fun. The production is 100x better than the WSL. Quite refreshing not having interruptions in the broadcast, not missing waves and plenty of replays in the down time. Well played ISA
I wonder if they played Ro Sham Bo to see who got the purple and blue mask.
There’s no such game I’m afraid.
There IS a game called ‘Jun Ken Po’ however. Also (barbarically) called ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ in the UK.