Why Olympic surfing events are in Tahiti, thousands of miles from Paris

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Paris is officially hosting the summer games, but dozens of Olympians will compete at a venue nearly 9,800 miles away.

Forty-eight surfers will hit the waves off the coast of Teahupo’o, a small village in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

It’s not the only Olympic event taking place off-premises: Sailing competitions are happening hundreds of miles south, in Marseilles, while soccer matches will be held a two-hour train ride away, in Bordeaux.

But Tahiti is the farthest of this year’s 35 venues — and the farthest Olympic competition to be held outside of a host city since 1956, when Australia’s equine quarantine policies required the Melbourne Olympics to hold equestrian events in Stockholm, Sweden.

Paris officials say the decision to hold surfing competitions at Teahupo’o aligns with their goal to “spread the Games across France.”

“It offers an opportunity to engage French overseas territories and their communities in the Olympic Games — for the first time in history — while showcasing France’s rich and diverse heritage,” they added.

Even when the competitors are not in the water, they’ll be on the water, living in what organizers are calling the first-ever floating Olympic Village: a cruise ship packed with amenities including a 24-hour dining hall, a gift shop, a waterslide and a tattoo parlor.

“I think our athlete village in tahiti is better than the actual one in paris,” Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi captioned a TikTok video of the accommodations.

Teahupo'o is known for its monstrous waves

Tahiti won the right to host the surfing competition way back in 2020 — before surfing itself even made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 — beating out four other sites in mainland France.

At the time, the International Olympic Committee said the island had “overwhelming support” both from surfers and “some famous names” at Paris’ presentation for final approval.

Teahupo’o has already been a world-renowned surfing spot for decades. It has hosted the Pro Tahiti world championship for over two decades, and is one of the highlights on the men’s championship tour, according to an Olympics site.

The “Teahupoo” wave is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and dangerous in the world. It could rise anywhere from 2 to 22 feet high.

“When it’s getting big, it’s the heaviest wave in the world for me and the most perfect wave in the world,” said Tahiti's Kauli Vaast. “You have to be very focused because if you fall, you can hit the reef and that’s the danger. That’s why Teahupo'o is dangerous, so you have to be smart, calm and focused."

With construction came environmental concerns

The shallow coral reefs have been the center of much back and forth since organizers set their sights on Tahiti.

Environmental advocates, climate experts, locals and visitors have long criticized officials’ plans to build a three-story aluminum tower for competition judges and television cameras, citing the threat of lasting damage to the ecosystem.

Tahurai Henry, who has been surfing in Tahiti for two decades, told NPR last October that locals — many of whom make their living by fishing — oppose the construction of the tower because the digging required to erect it could damage the coral reefs long-term in service of a temporary spectacle.

“Who is going to have to deal with it later on?” he said. “It's us. It's our fishermen. It's our kids. It's our village.”

In response to mounting pushback, Olympics organizers announced last fall that they would scale back their plans for the tower, making it smaller and lighter to accommodate fewer people and require shallower drilling for the foundation.

They say it will be dismantled and rebuilt for future surfing events — such as the World Surf Championship Tour — as was the case with its wooden predecessor.

Hundreds of spectators are expected to descend on the island for the Olympic competition, which is scheduled to run from July 27 to Aug. 4.

Athletes arrived earlier this week, as workers put the finishing touches on the venues. The Associated Press reports that residents have been preparing for an influx of visitors by extending their business hours and hand-painting road signs reminding people to drive slowly.