NEW YORK - Olympic surfing is ready to grab the spotlight at the 2028 LA Olympics with a pristine venue in the heart of modern surf culture after thriving in a far-flung location for the Paris Games.

Paris earned rave reviews for its Olympic surfing venue halfway around the world in 2024, with Teahupo'o, Tahiti, praised for its days of perfect surf in the sport's ancestral home of Polynesia.

But the 2028 venue announced on Tuesday, Trestles Beach, could give competitors a greater experience of being an Olympian, just a stone's throw from their fellow athletes in Los Angeles.

"Tahiti was great because the waves were great but we were removed from 'ground zero' of the Paris Games," said Fernando Aguerre, the president of the International Surfing Association.

Aguerre told Reuters he was delighted with the selection of Trestles Beach, which beat out the other finalist Huntington Beach, with its consistent, quality waves and point break.

"Those two finalists are probably the two best, most consistent waves in Southern California," he said. "Trestles is higher quality and also has a higher likelihood of good waves happening."

Featuring in its third Games, the sport has already well-established itself on the Olympic landscape, said Aguerre, with former ISA Vice President Kirsty Coventry recently elected as the incoming IOC president.

"Southern California is where competitions, industry, some of the most famous world champions live," he said. "Contemporary surfing today, really, the epicenter in Southern California." REUTERS

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