Hammer thrown.

Two days. Surfing’s grand Olympic debut is merely two days away and the world press is practically stumbling over itself in trying to cover, essentially falling in love with our brave water sliders. Oh, it was inevitable as the narrative is just too delicious. The great Duke Kahanamoku advocating for surfing’s inclusion over 100 years ago, young and tan and fit youth radiating vitality to a pandemic stricken public, the vestiges of an enviable lifestyle doggedly holding firm.

Yes, falling in love and as I boldly predicted at the beginning of the month, one surfer will emerge as a superstar, known and adored by the general public a la snowboarding’s Shaun White.

The early frontrunner was, of course, Kanoa Igarashi who is Japanese-by-way-of-Huntington-Beach, speaks-ish the language and is exceedingly handsome. His stock was recently improved by an almost humanizing profile in Outside magazine.

In a savvy move, however, Kolohe Andino hired the very firm that made Shaun White Shaun White and has been delivering folksy metaphors to The New York Times.

A wild battle of personal brands but wait, Hawaii’s Carissa Moore has entered the ring and just thrown an absolute hammer.

Reuters is reporting that the 4x World Champion delivered a message in Japanese to the small town that hosted them before moving to the official venue saying, “We love Makinohara, the waves were a little small, but the beach was beautiful and we had a lot of fun. The hotel, food, beach, and waves were all wonderful, and the people of Makinohara have kindly shown us hospitality. We are truly thankful.”

She then gifted the town’s mayor, Kikuo Sugimoto, with a jar of banana nut butter made by her husband’s business.

I’ll be frank, the smart money should have been on Moore from the very beginning. Nobody doesn’t love ‘Rissa, as the saying goes and with this cunning move, I’d have to say she noses ahead of both Kolohe and Kanoa, who is currently running a surprising third.

Two days.

Will the situation change in those two days?

A Brazilian or Italian or French surfer entering the wild battle of personal brands?

Moore as the story develops.

Big blow.

In a stunning blow to surfing’s reputation as “rebellious” and “cool style,” Australia’s Olympic surf team The Irukandjis,” whose motto is “Deadly in the water™”, has allowed a 36-year-old equestrian showjumper to get kicked out of the Tokyo Games after testing positive for cocaine.

Victoria’s Jamie Kermond said the result was likely due a “single recreational use of the drug” at a social event that had no connection with showjumping and added, “I am extremely upset and remorseful as to what has happened and I accept full responsibility. I am truly sorry as I have let a lot of people down including my family and team mates. Hopefully one day I can be forgiven for my mistake (and make) amends through better actions and continued contribution to the sport I know and love.”

Cocaine’s relationship with surfing is well-established (buy here), and ceding the mantle of “punk” and “rock ‘n’ roller” to the horse world has been described as a “gargantuan blunder.”

Kermond was a three-time Australian showjumping champion, though his selection was scrutinized as he was 1013th on the rankings but had connections to one of the two men picking the team and was sponsored by his horse nutrition company.

Very cool, but back to the “single recreational use of the drug.” Is that common at a party feat. cocaine?

More as the story develops.

The Olympics, mere days away, has officially begun to suck the general public’s attention like a big black hole. Headlines from Tokyo now dominate news from around the world. The latest on athlete village behavior, profiles of exciting potential future stars and, of course, surfing.

Our grand Olympic debut has storylines then storylines then storylines. One of the more thrilling is who will emerge as next Shaun White.

As you know, the relatively unknown snowboarder became a household name after winning Olympic gold in 2006 and went on to much fame, fortune. Dating rock n’ rollers, creating a line of boys’ clothing for Target, later getting slammed with sexual harassment allegations etc.

Which surfer, though, has the potential to be regular famous, not just surf famous? Early frontrunners, Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi and the U.S.’s Kolohe Andino, have been trading heavy media blows. Yesterday, Igarashi delivered a humanizing interview to Outside magazine.

Today, Andino delivered a winning metaphor in describing surfing to a generally confused public telling The New York Times, “It’s so weird, competitive surfing. You could be the best surfer, the most talked-about surfer, whatever, and you go out there and you just need a score and you cannot find a wave. It’s like Tom Brady needs to go down the field for the winning score and he can’t find the ball.”

I laughed when I read it, laughed again when I just typed it and have to believe Andino has pulled ahead. Wheaties box soon etc.

The Times piece highlights how Andino has a clear advantage over Florence et. al. since he grew up surfing relatively poor surf in San Clemente. Not noted was how the World Surf League has decided to declare its champion in a one-day surf-off at San Clemente’s Lower Trestles and how Andino described the the move as “ludicrous” and “corny.”

But back to Tom Brady not finding the ball… truly funny.

Winning, even.