This week it was revealed that the only open man qualified for Lima 2019 to represent Colombia in the surfing event was not registered for the event because they did not consider it possible for him to win a medal.

The athlete ranted on social media against his federation, which, when consulted by methodologists, gave him perhaps not so encouraging expectations, and the federation defended itself by saying that they could not lie to the methodologists.

The news acted as another lesson for the world of surfing, which is meeting the Olympic world for the first time in history.

Karín Sierralta, President of PASA, CEO of ALAS and Vice President of the International Surfing Association, an expert on Olympic issues, explains in the following paragraphs what happened and why.

How can an Olympic committee choose not to host an athlete from its country?
The Olympic committees work according to plans called micro cycles and macro cycles that are directly related to the time needed to reach the final objective.  which is a medal.

Each Olympic committee decides its strategy for success in high-level competition and may or may not call up an athlete.

The answer is yes it can.

What do you think about this measure?
As an international leader, I must respect the decisions of the National Olympic Committees. They have methodologists who are experts in all sports and although surfing is new, I am sure they make very technical analyses to select their athletes.

As a Latin surfer, a friend of many kids that I have seen grow and succeed, it hurts me a lot, because for us this is a matter of history. It is the first pre-Olympic event, the first qualifying event, and I would like everyone who deserves to participate.

How thorough is the work of methodologists?
They must be experts in all Olympic sports and study the regulations and judging criteria in great detail to measure their athletes.

What do you think about the controversy that arose between the Colombian federation and Daniel Olmos? Should the federation have said that he was in the top 8 and not the top 10?
The Colombian Olympic Committee is one of the examples of order, strategy and long-term work.

They are even surpassing Brazil, I must respect their decisions even if I don't agree with them. They have their valid reasons but I have already explained my personal point of view.

Daniel deserved to participate, but perhaps they want their athletes to be only elite and with the possibility of medals. Even though surfing is a subjective sport, there are statistics.

Don't you believe that there is magic in sport and that an athlete who arrives at ALAS at the age of 28 can perform better than expected?
We come back to the same thing, in our sport there is magic, anything can happen. What we are clear about is that miracles are not going to happen either, we have a universe of world-class surfers in Latin America who can achieve averages of over 15 points several times.

We also know that each type of surfer is suited to a type of wave and this must also be taken into account when making decisions.

Where is the idea that competition is the most important thing that everyone teaches their children? Is this something that is not part of the COC?
We teach our children that the most important thing is to participate, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, the important thing is to participate, but we must teach our athletes to train hard, that they only go to events to collect medals.

I am sure that many Olympic committees will be happy to have at least one athlete qualified for the Pan American Games, but when a NOC feels like a leader or world power, it may demand much more from its athletes than just participating.

It is controversial but everyone has their reasons and respectable points of view.