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Australia’s surfers seek to justify Olympic selection after rocky start to WSL Kieran Pender © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP The day after Sally Fitzgibbons watched Cathy Freeman win the 400m gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, the nine-year-old donned her wetsuit and sprinted around town. Wearing neoprene in place of Freeman’s iconic space-age suit, Fitzgibbons imagined herself representing Australia at the Olympics. “It sounds bizarre, because there was no pipeline for representing Australia in surfing back then, but it was always a dream,” Fitzgibbons tells Guardian Australia. “That visual was always there in my mind.” Twenty-one years later, Fitzgibbons will be wearing her nation’s green and gold when surfing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo.

New south walesMargaret riverWestern australiaEl salvadorUnited statesGuardian stephanie gilmoreRyan callinanMorgan cibilicOwen wrightJulian wilsonStephanie gilmoreSally fitzgibbonsCathy freemanKate wilcomesCameron spencer gettyInternational surfing association