The next Olympics will be held in Los Angeles – 2,500 miles from Hawaii – but that isn’t stopping the Aloha State from trying to cash in on the Games.
Government officials are hoping to piggyback off the Olympics to boost local tourism, inviting Olympic surf teams to come train on the islands ahead of LA 2028.
“We’re trying to get some of the games’ teams to stop here before they go to Los Angeles, to have preliminaries in Hawaii,” said James Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “And surfing certainly could be one of them, especially with the Asian countries or New Zealand, any of those countries that enter the surfing competitions.”
While Hawaii definitely has world-class waves, the state may face challenges attracting teams. The Olympic surf venue at Lower Trestles in Southern California is a mellow, cobblestone point — a very different wave from Hawaii’s powerful reef breaks. Teams will likely want to train on waves that more closely match Olympic conditions.
Before the 2024 Games in Tahiti, several National Olympic Committees sent their surfers to Teahupo‘o for early training. Others joined the ISA’s official camp, run by local coach Tereva David. Before Tokyo 2020, Team USA trained at the Surf Stadium wave pool in Japan.
Still, some in Hawaii see opportunity. Maui’s Kim Ball, owner of several surf shops and a founder of high school surfing in the state, told the Hawaii Journalism Initiative he supports the idea.
“We need to expand our thinking in different areas and it’s very competitive out there for the tourist dollar now,” he said. “And sporting events are a natural. Everybody wants to come to Hawaii. So an Olympic-type sporting event would be a great excuse.”
While it’s unlikely Olympic surfers will choose Hawaii to prepare for Lower Trestles, there’s another path for the islands to ride the Olympic wave: hosting a qualifier. That would attract the world’s best surfers – and generate the kind of buzz and tourism boost Hawaii officials are looking for.