The International Surfing Association (ISA) has confirmed that the 2023 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games will be held in El Sunzal / La Bocana from 30 May to 7 June 2023.
The games will serve as the second event in the Olympic Qualification process, with four slots up for grabs for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games (to be held in Tahiti). In El Salvador, the four top ranked surfers by continent for each gender will qualify one place each by name.
Fernando Aguerre, ISA president, said: “El Salvador continues to solidify itself as an essential part of the pathway to Olympic Surfing. We are grateful to President Bukele and Minister Valdez for their understanding of the ISA’s mission, but also for their strong commitment to surfing. We are happy to continue to expand and strengthen this partnership, and to show the world that El Salvador is a surfing destination worthy of the world’s best events and surfers.
“Our surfers and teams from around the world have come to love and appreciate El Salvador’s beauty, warm hospitality and excellent waves. We look forward to returning as part of our paddle for a better world through surfing.”
Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, added: “Surf is freedom. The world needs freedom, probably more than at any other point in our lifetime. So it will be a great honour to be part of its promotion and celebration once again. We thank the ISA and its president, Fernando Aguerre, for including us. El Salvador will always be home for anyone who wishes to spread the culture and values of surfing”
Image: Team Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons won the gold medal in 2021 (Photo: ISA / Ben Reed)