Tears ran down Fernando Aguerre’s face as the first-ever Olympic medal ceremony for surfing commenced on the sand in Japan.
A camera zoomed in showing the emotional moment to countless spectators around the globe tuning into surfing’s Olympic debut in 2021.
Aguerre held up his hand and stretched his pinky and thumb outward – throwing a “shaka” sign out to the world.
“I was telling the world, ‘Love is the answer,’” the International Surfing Association president said of the moment and soaking in that surfing was officially an Olympic sport. “Because that (gesture) in Hawaiian means aloha, and it’s the same.”
Now, Aguerre, along with World Surf League world champion Italo Ferreira, who won the first-ever men’s gold medal at that same event, have been selected into this year’s Surfers’ Hall of Fame. They will be placing their hands and feet in cement in front of Huntington Surf and Sport on the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway at 9 a.m. on Aug. 4.
Joining them will be Register reporter Laylan Connelly, selected because of 20 years of beach and surf coverage in Orange County and beyond.
Aguerre is no stranger to earning nods for his decades of dedication to get surfing into the Olympics, among his accolades are the SIMA Waterman of the Year in 2013 and in 2018 a spot on the Surfing Walk of Fame, also in Huntington Beach.
But being remembered in cement, next to a bronze statue of Duke Kahanamoku, will be an extra special moment for Aguerre, who made it his life mission to fulfill the dreams of the Hawaiian Olympic swimmer who in the 1920s dreamed of surfing being included into the global games.
Aguerre is a devoted “bridge builder” between organizations, cultures, countries and all types of groups, as a part of his objective of helping build a better world, according to the Surfers’ Hall of Fame organizers.
“It’s just amazing that he’s bringing different countries together,” event creator Aaron Pai said….
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