On Tuesday, the ISA acknowledged its error in allowing the young 15-year-old prodigy to compete under its Canadian banner, announcing the ban “effective immediately” on the grounds that surfer Texas’ Canadian citizenship is not officially established , although his family has been taking steps in that direction for the past three years.

In March 2022, “Surfing Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee requested that Ms. Brooks be allowed to compete for Canada as her citizenship application had been filed but not yet completed,” the ISA said. The latter accepted the application “on the basis of assurances from the Canadian Olympic Committee and Surfing Canada that citizenship was in preparation”.

Except that said exemption request “was approved without proper consultation with the ISA Executive Committee and the ISA President.” Following the disclosure of the “case” by Canadian media CBC Sports and a “deeper analysis” of the situation by the ISA, its Executive Committee concluded that “this decision was made incorrectly and not in accordance with the applicable rules.” the ISA. […] The application of the Canadian Olympic Committee and Surfing Canada should have been denied.”

Private Pan American Games

The ISA based its decision not to retrospectively disqualify Erin Brooks on the grounds that “the fault was not attributable to the Athlete” and that she “did not gain an unfair advantage in a particular competition.” Otherwise, Erin Brooks would have been stripped of her gold medal at the 2022 Junior ISA World Championships and the silver medal she won at the ISA World Championships in El Salvador earlier in June. Canceling the “Canadian” results and redistributing the points according to a very precise rule, as recommended in the ISA rules book, would have had a positive impact on France, as it would then have swapped its vice-world champion 2023 for the world title. Likewise, Tya Zebroswki would have won bronze instead of copper at the Junior ISA Worlds 2022 (4th). So there will be nothing.

However, the surfer is not emerging from this chaos entirely unscathed as she is still being denied the sesame for the 2023 Pan American Games, the Paris 2024 Olympics and the inclusion of surfing’s participation in the 2021 games “due to her representation of Canada”. motivated many defectors from one country to another in recent years. She will have one last chance to win her sesame for the Teahupo’o event at ISA Worlds 2024 in Puerto Rico, provided she obtains Canadian citizenship by then so her ban will be lifted…