Team Canada Stripped of Medals Following Citizenship Debacle with Teen Surfer Erin Brooks
The Canadian surf Team was looking surprisingly strong, heading into the International Surfing Association (ISA) 2023 World Surfing Games in El Salvador, thanks to the help of 15-year-old surfing phenom by the name of Erin Brooks.
Brooks went on to get second place in the event, going down to Brazil’s Tatianna Weston-Webb. But her individual efforts boosted Team Canada up to eighth place on the rankings, below Australia and above Mexico. (Team Peru took the top spot.)
However, following the 2023 World Surfing Games, there was a bit of controversy. Erin Brooks was not (yet) officially a Canadian citizen, unbeknownst to the ISA.
To clarify, Brooks was born in Texas, raised in Hawaii. Her father holds dual citizenship with America and Canada, so Brooks has opted to represent her Canadian roots for the ISA World Surfing Games and (hopefully) the 2024 Paris Olympics.
What followed was an immediate suspension of Brooks from Team Canada, per a press release from the ISA. Then, Brooks was left in limbo, as she awaits her Canadian citizenship to be officially approved.
And now, the ISA has released a follow-up statement regarding the matter:
“A retroactive disqualification of all the individual results of Ms. Brooks is not justified, since no analogous application of the relevant rules of the ISA Rulebook can be made in the present case: Ms. Brooks did not gain any undue advantage in any given competition.
“Since Team Canada has received team ranking points and similar due to the participation of Ms. Brooks for Canada, an application of the disqualification rules is justified, and the relevant points originally earned by Ms. Brooks for the Canada team shall therefore be cancelled.
“Based on these conclusions, and to further clarify, Ms. Brooks will be allowed to retain any medals and rankings won as an individual in past ISA or PASA events, however anything she achieved to the benefit of Canada will be removed.”
So, Brooks will retain her medals and standing, but Team Canada will not.
The goal, with regards to all this, is that Brooks will qualify for the Olympics (only two athletes per gender, per country are allotted) and compete at the 2024 Paris Games at Teahupo’o whilst, presumably, representing Canada.
And according to her father, who spoke with CBC, that’s still the goal:
“We are hopeful she will be reinstated soon and can get back on track to chasing her dream of representing Canada in the Olympics."
Stay tuned.
***
Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.
Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.
