Surfing can steal Olympic limelight from Paris in Tahiti’s spectacular ‘place of skulls’
Almost 10,000 miles from the host city of the games, the world’s finest will take to their boards in French Polynesia
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Your support makes all the difference.The World’s Top 10 Most Lethal Waves sounds like one of those TV shows you’d find on the listings between Deadliest Catch and Aircrash Confidential.
But half a world from Paris 2024, the Olympics is about to get very wet and even more wild.
The iconic Tahitian reef Teahupo’o is a Mecca for surfers who dream of riding its fabled 10ft barrels like golfers teeing up at St Andrews or cyclists hauling themselves up Alpe d’Huez.
But it is no place for an amateur; danger lurks with every swell and break, which is perhaps why Teahupo’o translates as a ‘place of skulls’.
Nicknamed “Chopes”, when this stunning reef roars to life - fuelled from low pressures that spin off Antarctica - you can hear it from miles away. It rises and drops so fast your heart will plummet from your mouth to pit of your stomach in fractions.
It’s 9,900 miles between Paris and Tahiti, which makes this the biggest distance between a host city and an Olympic venue, beating Stockholm - which staged equestrian in 1958 when Melbourne hosted everything else - by 100 miles.
But from a sporting point of view, it’s perfectly logical. The best alternatives in France, such as La Gravière, Lacanau or Estagnots, have nothing on the consistency of conditions we can expect in Tahiti. And surfing – with every moment of the competition live on Discovery+ - needs to be spectacular to keep its place at the Games.
When the sport debuted in Tokyo, the waves at Tsurigasaki Beach were described by one athlete as ‘small and funky’, which in the vernacular of this sport is not a compliment.
There is nothing small about Teahupo’o, population 1,455, with forecasts for ‘big’ conditions for the start of competitions on Saturday.
Australia’s Molly Picklum is ranked among the top medal contenders in the 24-strong women’s event, looking to the horizon and summing up what lies ahead in the unique lexicon of her sport.
“That swell brings in a lot more chunk and grunt into the wave,” she said. “You’ve really got to face your fears, there’s no hiding out there.
“All the women are facing the Teahupo’o challenge, you can see them all show up here and throw themselves over the ledge. It’s inspiring.”
Picklum’s team-mate Ethan Ewing knows all about the challenge of this place but still can’t hide his smile as he prepares to start his event, 12 months after a huge wipeout broke his back here.
“It’s just one of those waves, it’s got big consequences,” he said. “The energy of this wave is like nothing else, it’s just so raw and has so much power.”
Five-time world champion Carissa Moore is back to defend her Olympic women’s title but takes on a stacked field, including Tahitian Vahiné Fierro and Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, who scored a perfect ten on the Teahupo’o break in May.
“It’s a scary wave but hopefully it inspires other people out there to face their fears,” said Moore, who has spent two months training in Tahiti, at the expense of prize money and her ranking on the World Surf League.
She added: “Facing fears is about accepting you won’t always overcome them, you’ll just show up no matter how shaky you feel. You need to respect Teahupo’o - it deserves you putting in the time, effort and attention to really know it and understand it.
“Spending time here has been something I’ve really enjoyed but I’m certainly not comfortable out there. You are never comfortable at Teahupo’o but perhaps I’m now comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina will start favourite in the men’s competition, though Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi and the USA’s John John Florence will be right in the mix, while Australia’s Jack Robinson should relish the big wave conditions.
Defending men’s champion Italo Ferreira, who learned to surf as a toddler on the polystyrene boxes from which his father sold fish in the sleepy village of Baia Formosa, is absent from these Games, such is the remarkable strength in depth of Brazilian surfing. “It’s amazing to be back in Tahiti, it’s my favourite wave in the world,” said Medina. “I feel the big waves are coming, so it’s going to be fun.”
Fun and fear – a perfectly potent Polynesian cocktail for Olympic drama.
:: Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.
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