16,000 kilometers to Paris: In Tahiti the world will see a surfing spectacle during the Olympic Games. Image: AFP
The wave of Teahupo’o is as beautiful as it is dangerous: the Olympic Games also want to benefit from its myth. But at what price? Environmentalists and even surfers themselves are protesting.
Teahupo’o – what is it? First of all, a small town in Tahiti. 1500 inhabitants, a forecourt to paradise in the South Seas. And then it’s a wave. A monster wave that sends shivers down the spines of even the world’s best surfers, at least most of them. On wild days it is the most dangerous, powerful wave in the world. A wave that bends and races into a reef below sea level, which hurls it forward. Courage alone is not enough for big wave surfing. Courage alone, they say, will kill you here. The razor-sharp coral reef extends up to 50 centimeters below the water surface.
Teahupo’o is something else. Venue of the Olympic surfing competition next year. Tahiti benefits from the fact that it is politically part of the overseas territory of French Polynesia, a legacy of colonialism. Because Paris is hosting the games, the surfers will now fight for medals almost 16,000 kilometers away.
