Surf’s Up in Tahiti!
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
Sightseeing in Paris at the XXXIII Games of the Olympiad. Gazing at the Eiffel Tower, munching colorful macarons, strolling along the Seine, basking in the Mona Lisa's smile. It's all an expected part of the Paris 2024 Olympics (July 26 - August 11).
But Olympic competitors at the surf venue in French Polynesia – 10,000 miles away! – will be in a different environment…
spending more time at the Wall of Heads (Teahupo'o) than the City of Light. On the southern part of Tahiti, the village of Teahupo'o gets its name from an ancient tribal battle. The name also describes the towering waves surfers face off against. The deep ocean floor of the Teahupo'o lagoon rises sharply, resulting in giant waves and ginormous rolling tubes – a maelstrom of kinetic energy not for the faint-hearted.
Tokyo Olympics gold
medalist Carissa Moore remembers her first time surfing at Teahupo'o and
the waves being "so much more intense and scary and nothing like you ever
imagined." Griffin Colapinto, the first American surfer to qualify for the
2024 Games, says the waves "could blow some minds."
Called by many
"the most beautiful place in the world," Teahupo'o is an Olympic
venue unlike any other. Its vibrant blue-on-blue vistas of sea and sky are ready
to dazzle participants and viewers alike, putting TV host NBC's peacock colors
on full display.
With such a remote spot for the surfing competition, island locals and environmentalists want to make sure that having so many people – competitors, spectators, officials, TV crews – doesn’t damage the marine ecosystem. Barbara Martins-Nio, general manager of the Paris 2024 Olympic Committee, says, "We really want to be respectful" of the island.
Most of the structures will be removed after the games. Olympic officials are being housed in local homes and guest houses. And the 48 athletes and team personnel are staying on a cruise ship docked in the lagoon instead of on shore, which reduces their carbon footprint.
Given that the environment is protected, islanders welcome the work opportunities and tourist dollars the Olympics generate. And they’re ready to "Let the games begin!" Or, as they say in French, "Que les jeux commencent!"
Sunny Magdaug and Patti
Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications
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