Will the Olympics honor its environmental commitment or prioritize four days of competition over nature?
Image: Tim McKenna
At the very end of the road on the southwest corner of Tahiti is where you will find one of the heaviest and most magnificent waves in the world: Teahupo’o. The wind, the swell, and the shape of the reef align to generate the wave that both terrifies and inspires the best surfers in the world.
It seems fitting, then, that Paris 2024 has chosen Teahupo’o to be the wave where the top surfers will showcase their skills in the 2024 Olympics. To judge the Olympics, Paris 2024 announced that together with the Haut-Commissariat, it will be constructing a new judging tower in the lagoon at Teahupo’o with a 40-person capacity, electricity, air conditioning, and running water for toilets. This new aluminum tower will replace the smaller wooden tower that has been used by the WSL to judge the Tahiti Pro for the past 20 years. This decision was based on concerns about the safety of the wooden tower because, according to Paris 2024, the foundation is no longer safe due to the wear of time.
This announcement did not go over well. Protests erupted from local residents and people around the world took the internet in objection to the new tower and the environmental destruction that would take place during installation. “This new construction is going to destroy a big part of the reef,” explained Tahitian pro surfer Matahi Drolet, “and have a very bad impact on the marine ecosystem.” Not only this, but Matahi warned that the tower could impact the wave itself and cause it to disappear in just a few years. “The impact and the risks are too important for only three days of contest.”
In response to this resounding opposition, Paris 2024 released a statement for a revised “more moderate” version of the new judges’ tower. Beginning with a reminder of Paris 2024’s commitment to the “protection of the natural environment at Teahupo’o,” the statement gave a detailed explanation as to why no alternative to a new tower exists, including all the reasons it would be impossible to make the existing tower meet safety standards.
Griffin Colapinto surfing Teahupo’o
Image: WSL / Damien Poullenot
“No contest in this world is worth the destruction of nature. This goes against the true value of surfing and sport in general.” —Matahi Drolet
This new proposal did nothing to abate protesters. Instead, it raised further questions about whether Paris 2024 is acting with integrity. “They keep telling us that there is a study that shows that the actual foundations are not up [to] the standards of security. Why is it impossible for us to get a hand on this study? Neither the government nor the experts want to give us this information despite hundreds of requests” said Matahi in a video response to the new proposal.
Mati, one of the workers who built the original foundation, guaranteed that all technical specifications had been followed during its construction. “20 years later, the foundations are still intact. I can affirm with certainty that building 56 new holes represents a considerable risk to the coral reef flat.”
Disregard for calls to discontinue this project reached the point that 5X world champion and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore said that she will boycott if Paris 2024 continues to pursue this project, according to SURFER. “This doesn’t seem worth it,” she said. Other Olympic qualifiers like João Chianca, Kanoa Igarashi, Caroline Marks and Filipe Toledo have also chimed in, condemning Paris 2024’s disregard for the environment and community of Teahupo’o
Despite continued protests, on December 2, Paris 2024 did a survey of the reef from the barge that will carry the aluminum tower out into the lagoon. Even though it traveled at high tide and without load, the barge caused significant damage to the reef leaving broken corals in its wake as local onlookers cried out in despair over the destruction.
Fortunately, yesterday the ISA announced that the Polynesian Government has “paused all testing and preparation to draw lessons following the incident on the reef.” At the very least, they seem willing to listen to the community, but it remains to be seen what kind of solution they come up with. If none presents itself and they revert to their original plan, more action may be needed to ensure that the natural environment of Teahupo’o and the community that lives there are respected, because, as Matahi put it, “no contest in this world is worth the destruction of nature. This goes against the true value of surfing and sport in general.” - Matahi Drolet
For those who would like to take action and voice objections directly to the International Olympic Committee, you can do so at this contact form.
