The 2024 Paris Games will include the second iteration of Olympic surfing. However, the surfers were absent from the Opening Ceremony today. That's because they are nearly 10,000 miles away at the storied Teahupo'o reef break in Tahiti. 

This year's Olympic surfing events look to truly be one-of-a-kind, from the location to the storylines to the loaded field of athletes. Here's everything you need to know before the surfers start hitting the barreling waves for the first round of competition.

The format for the surfing competition will mimic the one used in its Olympic debut in the Tokyo Games three years ago. 

Both the men's and women's events will feature 24 athletes.

For Round 1, the surfers have already been grouped into eight heats of three surfers each. They will have between 15 and 45 minutes — usually around 30 — to ride as many waves as they can. Each ride will be scored by five judges on a scale from 0.1-10, with the lowest and highest scores being dropped. The official score for each wave will be the average of the remaining three judge's scores. At the end of the round, the sum of each rider's top two scores will make up the total score for the round. 

After Round 1, the top performing surfer in each heat will receive an automatic bye into the third round. All other surfers will compete in head-to-head elimination heats in Round 2. That means that even riders who really struggle in Round 1 will still be in contention for the podium.

See the table below for the full Round 1 heats. After the first round, surfers will be re-seeded into their head-to-head heats for Round 2 based off of their scores from the previous round. Read our full breakdown of the Round 1 heats for all the storylines to watch out for in the opening sets.

Surfing is an extremely unique sport in terms of scheduling due to its heavy reliance on weather and wave conditions. It is not uncommon for a surfing competition to get delayed hours, or even minutes, before it begins. They can even suspend the competition in between the men's and women's events themselves.

Due to this variance, surfing is set to take place over four days within a nine-day competition window from July 27-August 5. Rounds 1, 2, and 3 will each occur on the first three days. Then, the final day will hold the quarterfinals, semifinals, and medal finals for both the men's and women's events.

See the Round 1 schedule below and check out our breakdown of how to watch every part of the competition.

The good news is that near-perfect conditions are expected for the first days of competition this weekend, but if anything changes, you'll be able to find everything you need here on NBCOlympics.com.

The 2024 Olympic surfing competition will be like nothing the Games have seen before. Last time around in Tokyo, Tsurigasaki Beach played home to the events and waves proved difficult to ride because of their small height and choppy conditions. This time around, the swells will be hard for very different reasons.

On the far southwestern coast of one of the many islands in French Polynesia, one has to make the long trek all the way down the main road as it goes from a paved street to a rugged dirt path. Eventually they'll find themselves at the tiny oceanside oasis of Teahupo'o, dubbed "The End of the Road."

Teahupo'o is world-renowned for its gigantic, barreling waves. About 500 yards offshore, the depth of the reef pass transitions from about 300 feet to just three feet extremely quickly. This abrupt deep-to-shallow transition causes the waves approaching the island to grow to great heights, up to 30 feet high, folding over themselves to provide huge, hollow barrels over the sharp reef below. Riding these barrels is what will score major points at Teahupo'o. Surfers will be trying to drop into these waves at the most difficult point, their peak, and disappear behind the crashing wave, riding in the barrel for as long as they can before emerging out the other side. 

All these factors make Teahupo'o equal parts legendary and lethal, as only the most elite surfers in the world are able to succeed within the treacherous barrels of the swell. The unique location is the perfect place for the competition, as it will be a true test of the best surfers on the planet in one of the most electric surf breaks on the globe.

Moore looks to ride off into the sunset

The only gold medalist from Tokyo returning to defend her title is Carissa Moore of the United States. The Hawaiian is one of the greatest female surfers of all time. She's been crowned a world champion on the World Surf League Championship Tour five times, won three Vans Triple Crowns, and of course took home the inaugural gold medal at the sport's debut at the Tokyo Games. She's already in the Surfing Hall of Fame, so there really is not much left that Moore hasn't done already. 

Fans will notice that she is absent from the WSL rankings this year though — that is because Moore elected not to compete on the tour this year, instead focusing all her efforts on defending her gold medal at the Olympics. She will also be stepping away from competitive surfing following the Games. It's hard to imagine a more perfect ending to her storied career than walking off with another gold medal. Moore will attempt to do just that and complete the storybook ending.

JJF seeking the last notch on his belt

Another fabled American, and Hawaiian, surfer will look to capture his first gold medal: John John Florence. Like Moore, Florence is one of the best surfers to ever grace waves and has won nearly everything in the competitive world of the sport. The one mountaintop left for him to climb is the three short steps to the top of the Olympic podium. Back in 2021 at the Tokyo Games, JJF was nowhere close to full strength, plagued by injuries surrounding the sport's first appearance in the Olympics. He battled and still managed to reach the third round before ultimately falling to his U.S. teammate Kolohe Andino.

This time around, Florence is as healthy as he's ever been and has been dominant on the WSL Tour thus far this season, currently sitting at No. 1 in the rankings and looking to snag his third world title. Not only is he healthy and in peak form, the venue also caters to his affinity for barrel riding. Growing up across the street from the Banzai Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore, Florence is one of the best surfers in the world at carving out hollow waves, finishing second at the WSL stop at Teahupo'o just a few months ago. As Joe Turpel, the commentator for NBC's Olympic surfing coverage and the WSL, said in his conversation with NBCOlympics.com, Florence suiting up for the final round would just make sense.

Hometown heroes not to be overlooked

Two surfers in the competition will be competition on their home beach, Kauli Vaast and Vahine Fierro. Both are Tahitian natives who will be represent France in the Games. Neither are nearly as accomplished in their career as the other favorites in this competition, but they both remain a strong threat to the mount the podium because of their familiarity with the reef break.

Teahupo'o is such a unique wave that is unlike anything else in the world. The only real way to practice surfing Teahupo'o is to actually surf the wave in Tahiti itself. Vaast and Fierro have more experience on the swell than anyone else in the field, having practiced on it since a young age. Their lifetime scouting report on the monstrous wave could be enough for them to ride it better than anyone else and find themselves with a gold medal when the dust (or tide) settles.