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Stand Up Paddleboarding in the Olympics?

The sport of stand up paddleboarding, specifically SUP racing, is being considered for the Olympic Games with possible debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

Two international Olympic federations, the ICF (International Canoe Federation) and ISA (International Surfing Association) are currently waging a political and legal battle for “control” of the sport. The ISA has been involved far longer, beginning with the 2012 ISA World Championship, however the surfing crew have been remained oddly stagnant while the canoe boys became aggressively interested in SUP racing over the past few years. We’ve reached the point where the ICF SUP World Championship is now a more competitive event than the original ISA version.

Though if you ask most paddlers, SUP is a self-governing sport (see: ICF vs ISA “selfish parents” Olympic debate).

In other words: it’s a bit of a mess

Below is a collection of articles we’ve written over the years about stand up paddling in the Olympics…

 
March 22, 2014
by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

So last week the SUP Athletes Association said we should have more board restrictions. And the internet subsequently went into melt down... Many are for the idea of limits on board design,

         
August 8, 2012
by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

Stand Up Paddle racing may not be an Olympic sport (not yet anyway...) but it was still a golden day for SUP at the London Olympics. Krisztina Fazekas Zur has just won GOLD in the Women's K4 500