Bodyboarding Legend Mike Stewart ‘Illegally Stripped of Ranking’

Dashel Pierson
·2 min read
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Right now, the International Bodyboarding Corporation (IBC) is holding a World Tour event, with $40,000 on the line, in the Canary Islands.

However, one of the world’s best bodyboarders, as considered by many, is not competing.

Mike Stewart was forced to pull out of the event because, in his eyes, they have illegally pulled his ranking. He was late to the check-in, and everything seemed cool because he had someone show up for him and pay his entry fee, but the IBC wasn’t having it.

“I’m down here at El Fronton [Gran Canaria, Spain] for the event this year,” Mike says in his latest social media video.

He continues:

“Unfortunately, this is Round Four, the round I was supposed to be in but I pulled out of the contest on the grounds that they have illegally pulled my ranking.

“I did not show up physically at the check-in. I sent them a notification that I wasn’t going to make it, I had someone pay my entry fee at the check-in.

“There’s no rule in the rulebook [see the rulebook here] that says they can strip my ranking, so they wanted to strip my ranking and put me in Round One of the trials. I took a stand and said this is not acceptable. There’s gonna be other riders following behind me who are going to have to endure the same illegal action.

“It’s almost like this dictatorship regime is making decisions on the fly.

“It’s devastating.”

Lots of people chimed in, like former CT surfer Damien Hobgood:

"Pretty disrespectful the goat of bodyboarding would be getting treated like this."

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