The 16-year-old was born in Texas and grew up in Hawaii, and her father is a joint American-Canadian citizen.

She is hoping to compete for Canada at Paris 2024 as each country is only allowed two surfers, so this is seen as the most realistic route with the Americans exceptionally strong.

But the Canadian Government has turned down Brooks' bid for a passport.

This is because she is "not stateless, will not face special and unusual hardship if you are not granted Canadian citizenship and that you have not provided services of an exceptional value to Canada".

Despite not being a citizen, Brooks competed for Canada on the international stage after Surfing Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee requested it in March 2022.

This was granted by the International Surfing Association (ISA), but in June it ruled this decision had been made "incorrectly" and Brooks was suspended from competing for Canada.

The ISA said her citizenship had not been established and apologised to Brooks for an "administrative error".

In July, the ISA confirmed that Brooks could keep the silver medal she won for Canada in the women's event at this year's World Surfing Games in El Salvador.

The points she contributed to Canada for the team rankings were disqualified. 

The saga means that Brooks is not competing at the Pan American Games, which opened in Santiago last Friday (October 20), which offer a route to Olympic qualification.

If she did make the Olympic field, she would be considered a contender as her style is suited to conditions in Tahiti, where the Paris 2024 surfing is due to take place.

On Saturday (October 21), Brooks won the final stop on the 2023 World Surf League Challenger Series circuit, the Corona Saquarema Pro near Rio de Janeiro.