In competitive surfing, Africa is poorly represented and the discipline remains largely dominated by Australians, Brazilians and Americans. But the continent can hope to see things change with the Senegalese surfers, some of whom are beginning to make a living from their passion like Chérif Fall, the second surfer from the country to have signed with a major brand in the discipline.
While surfing remains a very Anglo-Saxon sport with a strong predominance of American, Australian and Hawaiian athletes (in addition to the Brazilians who have won four of the last six world titles in the men's category), the Tokyo Olympic Games will allow us to see in the water surfers that we are less used to admiring in the world championship events. The rules established by the IOC provide for a maximum of two athletes per gender and per country. This rule ensures the presence of competitors from countries where surfing culture is less developed. The Japanese Shun Murakami, the Peruvians Lucca Mesinas and Daniella Rosas and the Israeli Anat Lelior are just a few examples.
For the African continent, Morocco's Ramzi Boukhiam and South Africa's Jordy Smith and Bianca Buitendag are surfers who are used to competing in the best competitions. But there are still a few qualifying spots left between now and the Olympics, which will be held at Tsurigasaki Beach near the city of Chiba. The ISA Worlds in El Salvador will be held from May 29 to June 6 and will award the last tickets that will allow lesser-known surfers to see the Japanese capital. Among them, the Senegalese hope to shine in El Salvador.
Best representative of the country, Chérif Fall signed a two-year contract with the brand Billabong via its European network. At 24, he becomes the second Senegalese surfer to sign a professional contract since the pioneer Oumar Sèye, who is none other than the one who trained him. "My dream is to represent Senegal all over the world" he explained to the official website of Tokyo 2020. "I know the goal is high, but it's still my dream. Ever since I was little, I used to go to the beach with my mother. I wanted to surf but my parents didn't agree. I used to take pieces of wood to go in the water. There were also other surfers who came to Dakar and broke their boards. I used that to start surfing. "
While Tokyo remains a lofty goal for the 2017 African champion, it is also Paris 2024 that he is aiming for in the longer term. The discipline has also been confirmed for this Olympiad and the Teahupoo spot in French Polynesia has been chosen to host the events. In the women's category, Khadjou Sambe is the leader of the discipline in Senegal. A coach in a surfing school, she has been surfing since the age of 13 on the spots surrounding the island of Ngor near Dakar. She received the support of the association " Black girls surf" , which advocates for better representation of black women in professional surfing. It is thanks to this support that Khadjou Sambe was able to spend a year in California in 2018.
The fact remains that places will be hard to come by at the ISA Worlds in El Salvador. Five tickets are up for grabs for the men and seven for the women. As for the best of the discipline, 10 surfers from the World Tour (including world champion Ítalo Ferreira, Hawaiian John John Florence and Frenchmen Jérémy Flores and Michel Bourez) have already qualified for Tokyo. On the women's side, eight women from the CT (Championship Tour) have already qualified for Japan (including France's Johanne Defay, Private Sport Shop ambassador). While waiting for next May's deadline, Senegal should continue to promote this sport among young people, also with a view to shine at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games, which will be organized in Dakar and during which surfing will be on the program.