Year 2024 city of Paris, the National Olympic Committee has decided to distinguish itself by proposing one of the "most sustainable" models in history, wanting to establish a new format that can also be used in future Olympic editions.
The result was a storm of controversy from several points of view starting from the political choice to have some competitive swimming activities in the Seine to something more serious. It is always fascinating to see the shiny side of the coin but we must remember that it has two sides and today we will show the other side, how?
Let's take a plane together and fly to Tahiti specifically to Teahupo'o in French Polynesia, in front of us we will find a clear sea of a Caribbean color to see in person the Olympic Surfing competitions. Before our eyes they will form among the most perfect waves existing in the world, forming crystalline tubes to cross.
Every surfer's dream!
Spot Teahupo'o, Source: We Rock Sport
The landscape above sea level is fascinating, the beach, set up in such a way as to be able to comfortably accommodate the curious and all the technical staff of the race. The public is excited ready to enjoy the two races scheduled for both the male and female sex, which will take place over four days.
48 athletes, 24 women and 24 men, compete for the three podiums for a total of 6 medals. Each round can last 30 or 45 minutes depending on the weather conditions, we must remember that the sea is influenced by the climate and the atmosphere as well as by the pressure, so we must be patient while waiting to find and ride the right waves. The athletes in the competition can take as many waves as they want, alternating, but the score is based on the two best catches per athlete.
The competition format includes six rounds: round 1, round 2, round 3, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
We arrive at the 4th day, it is August 5th, and finally we have the results of the finals, on the women's side Caroline Marks , American, is crowned world surfing champion, in second podium Tatiana Weston-Webb and closing the podium Johanne Defay .
Caroline Marks, Source: Olympics.com
The crown for the men was awarded to Frenchman Kauli Vaast, originally from Polynesia, followed by Jack Robinson, closing the podium with Gabriel Medina who nevertheless entered history for his "almost perfect" wave of 9.9 (the highest score of the entire Olympics) and his iconic photo following the wave he rode that made him enter history.
Kauli Vaast, Source: Surfer
Energy flows through our veins even though we have been spectators, the air is electric, you can get a shock just by breathing. But there are people whose breathing is labored day after day since the announcement of the Olympics, in their case, the electricity in the air is due to the tension of their souls.
Iconic photo Gabriel Medina Paris 2024 Olympics, Source: La Repubblica
The other side of the gold medals won by super surfers, casts a shadow on a painful issue for the inhabitants of the island: the Tahitian Eiffel Tower. It is a steel tower, which replaces the old wooden structure that for 15 years has hosted quietly, without any problems, the judges, technical staff for television filming of the competitions of the World Surf League, hosted annually. Suddenly, with the arrival of the Olympics this tower was not considered up to par. Therefore, for a competition lasting less than a week, the Olympic Committee together with the Polynesian government governed by Moetai Brotherson, have given the green light to the construction of this new tower equipped with every comfort including toilets on each floor and air conditioning as well as larger dimensions.
Teahupo'o Steel Tower, Source: Beach Grit
The symbolic face of this complaint is Matahi Drollet, a highly respected local surfer, who posted a video on his Instagram channel in which he exposes the problems inherent in the consequences of the positioning of the new structure: "For only three days of competitions we cannot allow this to happen"
This construction could lead to an increase in “ciguattera”, a disease that poisons fish, and the devastation of the marine reef. First of all, the surfers who in the legendary Teahupoo tube challenge their limits, also know that challenging nature with a structure of this kind could turn into a serious damage for the delicate balance of the sea and for this reason they ask those responsible for the Games to step back.
Matahi Drollet video complaint, Source: Matahi Drollet Instgram
In December, the same government, under media pressure also due to the intervention of the ISA (International Surfing Association, the governing body of Olympic surfing), interrupted the work because during the first test in which the support platform was brought into the water and inserted, the coral reef was damaged, therefore the concern immediately increased.
The video reports the damage of the reef by the Sardinian surfer Francisco Porcella, in which he shows during a dive the real damage done to Teahupo'o, a fishing village that lives by supporting itself on the local ecosystem.
This is for a whim related to comfort, moreover it is funny to think that you can't find real images of the tower, only some renderings from google images and maybe some frames if you look in the videos made in the context of the Olympics.
Francisco Porcella video complaint, Source: Francisco Porcella instagram
The ISA has also promulgated two proposals regarding the protection of the marine ecosystem of this place considered sacred, by the ancient tradition of the people of Tahiti and by all surfers in the world, who in turn consider it a magical place. The first consists in developing a tower on the beach using the latest generation zoom cameras to observe the competition; the second is to use platforms on which to position the cameras, but these have been designed to be considerably smaller.
After a series of meetings between the Minister of Sport of Tahiti Nahema Temarii and the inhabitants of Tahiti, no safeguard measures have been taken, the results of this major operation will be able to be seen and analyzed over the years, at the moment we can only hope that the intervention has not caused permanent damage.
Old wooden tower of Teahupo'o, Source: La Gazzetta
The Olympics are now over, the platform has been built and bequeathed to the island, to general discontent. The Olympics have always been seen as a stimulating and unifying moment, in this discipline in the '24 edition, they have not been able to take into account the protection of the environment in such a delicate global moment and the morality attached to the origins of this millenary event, born for noble and sacred purposes.
Now we can take the plane back home, who knows how this thing will evolve, only time will tell.
For now, we express our utmost solidarity with the people who inhabit the island of Teahupo'o.
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