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Where Is Surfing for Paris in 2024 Olympics? All About 9942 Miles Away Venue
Teahupo'o, on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, has 'the heaviest','most perfect' waves in the world. That is where Paris Olympics 2024 will head to next.
Waves develop when ocean swells caused by distant storms collide with the seafloor. Typically, this is a slow process, but at Teahupo'o, Tahiti, the location of the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing event, every parameter is pushed to its limits.
The giant waves' surges are caused by severe Antarctic storms and travel thousands of kilometers before colliding with a coral reef less than a meter (less than a yard) deep. The end product is a flawless tube of eye-watering intensity that can only be negotiated by the world's top surfers.
Teahupo'o, which means "heap of heads" in Tahitian, is also brutally beautiful, says Tim McKenna, a professional surf photographer who has resided on the island since 2002. McKenna, who has spent 35 years photographing the world's top surfers surfing the world's best waves, believes that Teahupo'o is unique. The water is warm and quite clear. "You can see the coral and fish."
Teahupo'o is an impressive venue
The surrounding environment is also impressive: "When you catch the wave, you are surfing towards these super-green, pyramid-shaped mountains." But what actually distinguishes the wave, he says, is that "it's super short, super powerful, and 100 percent tube." This explains why it's so photogenic.
When the guys go out of the tube, you'll receive spray in your face and on your lenses." This is because there is a canal just next to the wave that is “so deep there’s no way anything can happen to you. Even if the waves are massive, the channel is flat.” He emphasizes that there is "nowhere else like Teahupo'o in the world".
However, it is not the only reason why a tiny town of 1,455 people in southwest Tahiti has been picked to host 48 of the world's best surfers during the Paris Olympics, which begin on Saturday and are 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) away from France's capital.
Why did the Paris Olympics 2024 choose Teahupo'o as the surfing venue?
The short answer is French. Polynesia is part of France and has the world's greatest surf. The longer response is more fascinating. Mainland France has some spectacular winter waves, most notably at La Graviere and Le Nord near Hossegor, but in the summer, the Bay of Biscay on the west coast is mostly waveless.
Surfing debuted in the Tokyo Olympics under horrible circumstances, and a recurrence would be detrimental to the sport's image. Fortunately for the Olympic organizers, France's overseas regions have some excellent waves.
Surfing was originated by ancient Polynesians, who eventually spread the sport to Hawaii, long before the European encounter in the 16th century. During Captain James Cook's three-month stay in Tahiti in 1769, Joseph Banks, the resident botanist on HMS Endeavour, wrote in his journal:
"Their chief amusement was carried on by the stern of an old canoe; with this before them they swam out as far as the outermost breach, then one or two would get into it and, opposing the blunt end to the breaking wave, were hurried in with incredible swiftness." They were sometimes hauled almost onshore.
While Polynesia is the home of surfing, attempting to control the death-defying tubes of Teahupo'o is a more recent endeavor. According to Borte, Hawaiian bodyboarders Mike Stewart and Ben Severson seemed to be the first to surf huge Teahupo'o in 1986, and the waves became "something of an underground spot for psychotic bodyboarders".
By the 1990s, a few enthusiastic surfers had joined in, but it was the decision to organize a World Surf League (WSL) event in 1997 that threatened to put Teahupo'o on the map.
Who can win gold at the Paris Olympics 2024 in surfing?
With the games poised to begin, any lingering problems have been forgotten, and the surfing community is holding its collective breath in anticipation of what might be a watershed moment for the sport.
Kelly Slater, who, although age 52, would have been a formidable contender at Teahupo'o, will not be attending owing to the stringent qualification requirements.
On the other hand, Brazil's Felipe Toledo, the 2022 and 2023 world champion, will have his demons to cope with. Toledo is generally unstoppable on tiny waves, but he has a checkered past with Teahupo'o, having scored zero points in a 2015 heat.
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