Tokyo Olympics 2021: Surfer Owen Wright’s incredible comeback story proof that odds can be beaten

Owen Wright did what no surfer has ever done before - months later he was told he may never surf again. Now he’s readying to represent Australia at the Olympics.

The timid surf of Tsurigasaki Beach may not suit the tall frame and big-wave ability of Aussie medal hopeful Owen Wright, but the blonde-haired veteran has never been one to let odds dictate his success.

Wright, 31, will surf among an elite group of 20 athletes on the sport’s big-stage debut in a historic achievement that five years earlier many would have considered impossible.

At the peak of his surfing powers and in a dogged 2015 WSL world title battle, Wright’s world came crashing down around him days before the tour’s final event at Pipeline in Hawaii.

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Owen Wright is looking to make his mark on surfing’s Olympic debut.

Months earlier Wright’s name was written into surfing folklore, as the boy from Culburra Beach in New South Wales surfed not one, but two, perfect 20-point heats to take out the Fiji Pro.

To that point, a perfect heat had only been achieved six times in professional surfing history and in the space of a few days, Wright did it twice – the second coming in the final against fellow Aussie Julian Wilson, who will also surf at the Olympics.

Wright had positioned himself nicely in the championship tour’s top five heading to Hawaii, when tragedy struck.

While training in the lead-up to the season decider, Wright was caught in a 15-foot-plus wave that sent the normally unflappable gentle giant underwater and down a long road to recovery.

The official diagnosis was a traumatic brain injury.

Suddenly far removed from the eyes of the world, Wright had to learn to walk and surf again – often angling to do the latter first, but for family intervention to rein him back in.

Owen Wright and Julian Wilson will lead the Aussie surfing challenge in Tokyo.

He stepped away from the tour in 2016 to focus on recovery, forced to sit idle as younger sister Tyler surfed her way to a maiden WSL world title.

One of five siblings who all surf, including Tyler and younger brother Mikey, who is also on the championship tour, Wright had his boards taken away from him in 2016 as he agitated for a return to the water.

That finally came the following year, at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

In one of the most incredible comeback stories in sport, Wright pipped good mate Matt Wilkinson in the final to take out the first event of the 2017 championship tour in highly emotional scenes.

He went on to finish sixth in back-to-back seasons, going from championship tour onlooker to title contender barely 12 months after his brush with death.

Owen Wright’s sister Tyler Wright is a two-time WSL champion.

“It’s a massive testament to him. Most people probably would have thrown in the towel, but he’s relentless in his performance and his health as well,” Australian Irukandjis team coach Bede Durbidge said of Wright.

“He makes sure he doesn't leave any stone unturned.

“It’s been a humungous mountain he’s climbed to get to where he is now and I’m sure he’ll draw on all of that (at the Olympics).”

The 2021 season hasn’t been ideal for Wright, with ninth his highest-placed finish on the tour so far.

But a promising showing at the ISA World Games in El Salvador last month sparked hope of a purple patch of form at the perfect time.

Aussie national team coach Bede Durbidge. Photo: Scott Davis

Coupled with a looming tropical low off Japan’s east coast, which is projected to make waves – literally – for the opening event on Sunday, it would be foolish to write the Aussie out of medal contention.

But Durbidge revealed Wright had been secretly perfecting his small wave craft in the US in the lead-up to the Games, suggesting he might surprise a few people come Sunday.

“We just had a session down there this morning and it was probably only knee to waist high … he has this small wave board and I was blown away by how well he was surfing,” the coach said.

“He was popping airs all over the place.

“He’s worked really hard on that equipment to get his small wave surfing up – so he might be six foot three, but he’s definitely surfing like he’s five foot eight.”

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Surfer Owen Wright’s incredible comeback story proof that odds can be beaten