Surfing returns to the Olympic Games, as a part of Paris 2024, for its second appearance on sport’s largest platform. While the majority of the Olympic sporting action will be held in the French capital, the surfing competition will actually take place in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Why Tahiti?
When the Paris 2024 Olympic organisers first considered the options for surfing, they looked at all possibilities, including their overseas territories. For the International Surfing Association (ISA), from a surfing performance point of view, there was no question about which location would provide the most exciting, most dramatic and most challenging playing field for the world’s best surfers: Teahupo’o. Olympic surfing in Tahiti will be a truly authentic experience enjoyed by local fans and international audiences – with stunning images that will capture the world’s imagination. As one of the most iconic surf locations in the world, Tahiti pays homage to the culture and heritage of the sport.
The beauty of Teahupo’o
Teahupo’o is one of the most unique locations in the world and presents one of the biggest challenges in surfing. It is well-renowned for producing visions of perfect and awe-inspiring waves that the world’s best surfers revere like nowhere else on earth. Dramatic mountain peaks frame the deep blue, crystal clear water, which is lined by palm trees on the shore. No matter how you look at it, Teahupo’o is stunningly beautiful. The fresh water coming from the mountains flows into the ocean and carves a section of the coral barrier creating a “pass”. This, together with the depth creates perfect heavy left hand barrel like waves. When large waves enter this pass, the underwater bathymetry compresses and accelerates the wave energy, causing a sharp increase in the height and speed of each wave as it surges onto the reef. The village of Teahupo’o is located where the paved roads end and dirt tracks begin, leading to it being historically designated as ‘The End of the Road’. The word Teahupo’o itself is often translated as ‘wall of skulls’.
Competition schedule
The competition window for surfing will be from 27 July to 5 August 2024, with four days within that period required to complete the event. Prior to the opening of the window, six training days will be available for the athletes to have exclusive use of the location (July 21 – 26, 2024). Additionally, on 26 July 2024, an official opening ceremony will take place in Tahiti featuring traditional dances and a presentation of the competing athletes within the opening in Paris.
Competition specifics
The surfing competition at Paris 2024 will start with eight heats for the first round, each featuring three athletes. Winners will pass to Round 3 and second and third positions to Round 2 where only the winner advances. From Round 3 onwards it will be all ‘head-to-head’ heats of two athletes. The heats may be 25-40 minutes long, which will be decided based on conditions. Surfing is scored on a wave-by-wave basis by an international panel of five judges, who are overseen by a single head judge. Each judge will deliver a wave’s score between 1-10, the highest and lowest numbers are then removed and the middle three averaged to deliver a final score. The two best waves per heat are counted to determine a surfer’s overall heat total. The surfer with the highest two-wave total at the end of the heat is the winner. The emphasis on judges’ scores varies by location and break. At many locations around the world aggressive turns or aerial maneuvers are heavily rewarded, but for Teahupo’o the focus is almost entirely on the ‘barrel’ or ‘tube’; the hollow section of the wave that a surfer disappears into. Commitment and degree of difficulty are the key components of barrel-riding, accounting for the depth inside the barrel, as well as the length of time spent inside.
The road of surfing into the Olympic Games
“The Impossible Wave” is an award-winning documentary that tells the story of the remarkable efforts of the ISA and its President, Fernando Aguerre, across 27 years, to secure the inclusion of surfing in the Olympic Games. Aguerre sacrificed exceptional amounts of time, finances, and, most importantly, waves, to accomplish his greatest achievement – securing a place for surfing in the biggest sports event in the world, the Olympic Games. Featuring industry leaders including IOC President Thomas Bach and Quiksilver Founder and Former CEO Bob McKnight, along with Olympic Gold Medalists Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira, the film is an engaging insight into an unorthodox leader dedicating his life to an impossible dream and an improbable sport making its debut in the Olympic Games.
Images: Teahupo’o by Pablo Jimenez via International Surfing Association