What You Need to Know Before Round 1

With more than 32 individual sports deciding Medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it's easy to get a little overwhelmed trying to make sense of exactly where, when, and how surf fans can tune in live to Teahupo'o-almost 10,000 miles and 12-hours time difference between the rest of the festivities in Paris-and exactly how the whole competition will work. Before we get into the event's format and rules, here's how to find the event streaming online in your respective international region.

How To Watch [Check ISASurf.Org for full list]:

• United States: NBC/Peacock
• Australia: Nine
• Brazil: Globo
• Canada: CBC
• China: CCTV
• Japan: Fuji TV/NHK/Nippon TV/TBS/TV Asahi/TV Tokyo
• New Zealand: SKY NZ
• South Africa: SuperSport
• Europe: Discovery Eurosport
• France: France Télévisions
• Germany: ARD/ZDF
• United Kingdom: BBC Sport

How is the Event Formatted?

As for the format, the comp will follow the traditional WSL format: Opening round of eight three-man heats. The winner moves to the Round of 16, while the rest meet in the first elimination round. Surviving surfers continue competitor-on-competitor heats through the Quarters onwards. While the Final will decide between Silver and Gold, the remaining two surfers from the semifinal match-ups will surf-off for Bronze. There are no shared Medals in surfing. (In Tokyo, Owen Wright and Gabriel Medina surfed off with Wright taking the Bronze.) The Judging Panel comprises 5 expert judges with a diverse background, all judging waves on a scale of 1-10, with scores as granular as two decimal points. Each wave's high and low scores are thrown out, with three left averaged into a final score. The two highest scores combine for Heat Total. Uniquely, Heat Duration is flexible-anywhere from 20-35 minutes, dependent on conditions. Surfers can go to town, and catch as many waves as they want at that time, chasing a 20-point total for two perfect 10-point rides.

What are judges looking for? Let us consult the officials:

"The scoring system is based on five criteria that reflect the core elements of the sport."

1. Commitment and degree of difficulty
2. Innovative and progressive maneuvers
3. Variety of maneuvers
4. Combination of major maneuvers
5. Speed, power, and flow

1.Commitment and degree of difficulty

• "This is about the types of movements that an athlete performs and how difficult the moves are to perform," International Surfing Association (ISA) technical director Erik Krammer tells the Olympic Channel. "Athletes are rewarded for higher-risk maneuvers. The judges are also looking at how committed a surfer is to maximising the wave's potential."

2. Innovative and progressive maneuvers

• "What the judges are looking for here is whether the surfer is pushing the boundaries and doing innovative maneuvers such as aerials and tail slides," Krammar says. "This is where we see athletes taking surfing to a higher level.'"

3. Variety of maneuvers

• Judges want to see if a rider is doing all different kinds of maneuvers or doing a similar maneuver repetitively. ''The bottom line is quality, but obviously, if you are doing quality turns and they are all different, it's spontaneous and that looks better to the judges,'' Krammer says.''

4. Combination of major maneuvers

• This is about how well a surfer connects big high high-scoring manoeuvres together.

5. Speed, power, and flow

"Speed is about how fast a surfer is going on the wave, but also about adapting how quickly they are adapting to the waves," Krammer says. "Judges want to see if athletes are surfing with proper speed to achieve critical maneuvers. Flow is the way in which a surfer seamlessly connects their moves from one to the next. For me and a lot of the judges, it's the art, it's the nature in surfing. The last element is power, and judges are looking at how much power an athlete is putting into their maneuvers and how they're pushing. Everything is really connected, together all the elements of the criteria just reflect what the general public thinks is good surfing. That's what the judges want to see, what the athletes want to see, and that's what the contest wants to see."

So there you have it. The event window begins July 27th and runs through August 5th. No official word obviously, but rumors that a promising pulse might greet the opening days.

Learn more about Teahupo'o here.

Head to the International Surfing Association (ISA) for more information on surfing in the Olympics.