LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — The World Surf League will award equal prize money to women and men for WSL-controlled events beginning with the 2019 season.
World Surf League CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said prize money equality is part of a long-range strategy to elevate women’s surfing and has been in the works since the new ownership group took over in 2013.
Surfing debuts at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
The change, announced Wednesday in advance of this weekend’s Surf Ranch Pro, is “to really give more women a chance to compete on tour and elevate women’s surfing to a place it should be,” Goldschmidt said.