JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Despite being a three-time world champion in her sport, Liv Stone realized earlier this year that she may never get a chance to compete at the Olympic level. The 21-year old para-surfer was one of many in the sport's international community who was distressed to find out that despite years of advocacy, para-surfing— a form of surfing that allows people with physical disabilities to ride waves on a board or wave ski— wouldn't be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “When I heard it didn't get in, I was shocked," said Stone.
“Not just for my career, but for all the other athletes as well.” With para-surfing not being selected for the Los Angeles Games, Stone and other members of the para-surfing and surfing communities are strengthening their advocacy for the sport to be included in future Paralympics, offering creative solutions to help keep their Paralympic surfing dreams afloat. The push for para-surfing to be included in the Paralympics has been a priority for over half a decade, said Stone.
“We pushed for over five years to get into the Paris Olympics,” said Stone. “Then Paris came and we're weren't there ..
. I realized we need to keep pushing.” Advocates quickly turned their efforts to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, feeling that the sport met many of the criteria needed to be considered, including a certain number of countries and International Paralympic Committee regions, a classification system based on impairments and a.