Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Arts·Commotion

Why is Olympic surfing so boring to watch on TV?

Sports journalist Adam Skolnick explains why one of the most exciting daredevil sports on the planet is so boring to watch on television.

Sports journalist Adam Skolnick explains why the sport and pop culture mainstay is less glamorous in real life

CBC Arts ·
A surfer looks to be floating above the waves with his hand raised and his board in the air beside him.
Brazil's Gabriel Medina reacts after getting a large wave in the 5th heat of the men's surfing round 3, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Teahupo'o, on the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, on July 29, 2024. (Jerome Brouillet/AFP/Getty Images)

Surfing is in its second year as an Olympic sport. While longtime surf fans may be wise to the realities of the sport, one thing is becoming clear to the rest of the world: while movies might lead you to believe it's non-stop action, in practice surfing can actually be quite slow.

Today on Commotion, sports journalist Adam Skolnick joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to unpack an Olympics paradox: why surfing — one of the most exciting daredevil sports on the planet — is so boring to watch on television.

WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube (this segment begins at 17:23): 

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Adam Skolnick produced by Stuart Berman.

Related Stories