Polynesia and the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will sign next week, in the presence of Tony Estanguet, the conventions for the organization of the Olympic surfing events, on the wave of Teahupoo in Tahiti, indicated Monday to the AFP the Minister of Sports of this overseas community.
“We saw each other (…) with the president (Edouard) Fritch to ask ourselves if we were really going there, because the conventions have not yet been signed. But it’s decided, we’re going to do them, these Games “told AFP Naea Bennett, Tahitian footballer, vice-world champion in beach soccer, appointed Minister of Sports in the government of French Polynesia last February.
On this occasion, Tony Estanguet, the president of Paris-2024, will travel to Tahiti from August 11 to 16 during the Outerknown Tahiti Pro, the penultimate stage of the world surf circuit (August 11-21). A stage of the women’s world circuit will also be contested, for the first time since 2006.
Teahupoo, the site planned for the surfing events of the 2024 Olympic Games, is a small village on the peninsula of Tahiti, quiet and green. Access to the site is via a footbridge that crosses over a river.
“We asked ourselves the question of the advisability of major investments during the crisis we are going through, but in the end, these adjustments, we would have made them anyway”, Mr. Bennett said. The Teahupoo marina will thus be refurbished. On the other hand, some developments are refused by some of the inhabitants. A living area will be installed after the river, which will simply be equipped with a pedestrian bridge. “The residents did not agree to build a bridge, so we are not going to do it: we can cross the river with a 4×4, we will continue like that”said Naea Bennett.
Unable to build accommodation for the competitors on site, the local government plans to renovate a hotel, located 13 kilometers from the surf spot, but the duration of the work is not yet known. “If it’s not ready, we have another option: a cruise ship like the Paul Gauguin or the Aranui”, said the Minister of Sports. Competitors must all be accommodated in the same way.
A single road, one lane in each direction, leads to the mouth of the river, opposite the surf spot. It will not be expanded. “To avoid traffic jams, the wave site will not be open to everyone, but reserved for accredited people,” said Mr. Bennett. “There is resistance, but when the Olympics are here, we will all be happy to see our wave around the world”concluded the minister.
Environmental protection associations remain reserved. “Yes to the Olympics, with zero impact” says Cindy Otcenasek, president of the Vai Ara o Teahupoo association, who deplores a lack of communication: “We haven’t had anything concrete for two years, so it’s hard to say, they have to present the project”.
“I think the Olympics are very good, but you shouldn’t turn everything upside down”, warns Annick Paofai, who chairs the Association for the Defense of Fenua Aihere, the wildest coast of the Tahitian peninsula. “For example, you shouldn’t change the bed of the river: there are small waves there, it’s good for small competitions, we don’t want to change that”.
These associations hope that the coastline will not be modified, that there will be no dredging in the lagoon and that no coral potatoes will be moved.