After a fight for its inclusion at the 2020 Olympic Games, surfing was included as one of the new sports for the Tokyo event, and it was an Australian in Owen Wright who managed to bring home a bronze medal for Australia despite not going in among the favourites.
The 2019 World Surf League - which paved the way for most of the qualification into the 2020 event at the Tokyo games - saw Wright well down the pecking order. He wound up ninth at the end of the season, but even that was mainly only thanks to a win in Tahiti, and a third-place finish in the United States of America.
The points he gained there meant he would qualify for the Olympics alongside another Australian in Julian Wilson.
He was drawn into anything but a straight forward heat for the first round as well, having to take on United States surfing star John John Florence, as well as Ramzi Boukhiam of Morocco and Manual Selman of Chile.
A slip up could have seen Wright forced to face a difficult Round 2, but instead, he won his heat, with Florence finishing third, and was able to take a round off, advancing directly to Round 3 while others were eliminated in the second round.
It was then onto the third round where Wright had to take on Frenchman Jeremy Flores. Picking up a handy win enabled him to face off with Peru's Lucca Mesinas, and another big win saw him head into the semi-finals in fine fashion.
His winning run would end against Brazilian Italo Ferreira, who would hold his end of pre-tournament favouritism by taking the gold medal in a one-sided final against Kanoa Igarashi of Japan.
Wright only lost his semi-final by 0.7 of a point in what could only be described as a disappointment, but he would salvage a medal out of the Olympics by sneaking past Gabriel Medina (also of Brazil) in the Bronze Medal match by just 0.2 of a point.
His road to a bronze medal was a true story of perseverance. A previous wipeout at the Pipeline Masters in 2015 saw him suffer a traumatic brain injury. He had to relearn how to talk, walk and surf again.
In one of the stories of the games, a five-and-a-half-year turnaround from wondering if he would make it out alive from his injury to an Olympic Bronze Medal truly goes down as one of Australia's great Olympic moments.
Wright won't feature at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, with the surfing event to be held half a world away in Teahupo'o, Tahiti.
Instead, Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson will be the men's participants for Australia, while Tyler Wright and Molly Picklum both stand a chance of taking something for Australia from the women's event.
The fickle nature of surfing and the potential for reserve days to be required means the schedule isn't set in stone, however, the surfing event in Tahiti is expected to be held between July 27 and July 31.
In the 20 days leading up to the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony on the River Seine in Paris, All Sport will be looking back at the biggest Australian moments from the last Olympic Games, held under COVID conditions in Tokyo. From gold medals to heartbreaking moments, it's sure to play out again during 2024.
