Why the Olympic surfing venue is 16,000km away from Paris

Teahupo’o on the island of Tahiti in the territory of French Polynesia is home to ‘the heaviest’, ‘most perfect’ waves in the world. But what’s it got to do with Paris?

Waves are formed when ocean swells, stirred by far off storms, make contact with the seafloor. Typically, this is a gradual process, but at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, site of the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing event, every parameter is taken to its extreme.

The monster waves’ swells originate from powerful Antarctic storms before traversing thousands of kilometres of open ocean and crashing into a coral reef less than a metre (less than yard) deep. The result is a perfect tube of eye-watering intensity that can be navigated only by the very best surfers in the world. As surf coach and author Jason Borte writes: “Guts alone may cut it at some big-wave venues, but here they’ll get you killed. An iron sack must be accompanied by finesse in negotiating a wave that has relegated Pipeline [Hawaii’s heaviest wave] to mere warm-up status.”

Teahupo’o, which means “heap of heads” in Tahitian, is also painfully picturesque, says Tim McKenna, a veteran surf photographer who has lived on the island since 2002. McKenna has spent the past 35 years photographing the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves but, he says, “There is nowhere else like Teahupo’o. … The water is warm and super clear. You can see the coral and the fish.”

The surrounding scenery is equally impressive: “When you catch the wave, you are surfing towards these super-green, pyramid-shaped mountains.” But what truly sets the wave apart, he adds, is that “it’s super short, super powerful and 100 percent tube. That’s why it’s so photogenic. … When the guys come out the tube, you will get the spray in your face and on your lens.” This is because there’s a channel right next to the wave that’s “so deep there’s no way anything can happen to you. Even if the waves are massive, the channel is flat.” There is, he repeats, “nowhere else like Teahupo’o in the world”.

Yet that’s not the only reason why this village of 1,455 people in southwest Tahiti has been chosen to host 48 of the world’s top surfers for the Paris Olympics starting on Saturday, 16,000km (10,000 miles) away from the capital of France.