“I'm really looking forward to everyone leaving”: in Teahupo'o, surfing and the Paris 2024 Olympics are complicating the daily lives of Tahitians

In Tahiti, surfing events disrupt the daily lives of Tahitians. XinHua – Ma Ping

Police patrols, a pass to be constantly displayed and their village invaded by accredited persons: the inhabitants of Teahupo’o are already “fiu” (tired, weary, in Tahitian) of the Olympic Games after the first day of the competition on Saturday July 27.

“It's true that it's a grand event, but we're 'stuck' of having to show our pass four times to go 500 meters: what I'm really looking forward to is for everyone to leave", Romain Taupua, a retiree who lives in the busiest area, between the entrance to the village and Pointe Mahora, opposite the famous wave, told AFP.

All the more so since it is very difficult to admire the surfers at work. Among the 24 boats authorized on the spot on Saturday, only three welcomed fans selected at random. For the residents of Teahupo’o, the only way to get close to the wave is to work there, for example as part of the "water patrol", responsible for security or transporting officials and photographers.

"It's really an opportunity to welcome all these countries", recognizes Heimiri Afo, a thirty-something who has always lived in Teahupo’o. "But we weren't told about all these restrictions and they don't recognize our beach, there are barriers everywhere, even in the village", laments this firefighter. She no longer leaves her house and admits to having lent her pass to friends so that they could enjoy the Games.

Enhanced security

The large natural spaces that give the village its charm are occupied by a logistics center, a press area and the athletes' base camp. Right next door, a family has planted four wooden stakes to simulate football goals. Three generations are playing with an old ball, on this tiny green space, indifferent to the frenzy of the Games.

Because right next door, officials, journalists, technicians and volunteers are walking at a running pace, far from the usual pace of the village at the end of the road. In front of bare-chested children sitting on a coconut tree stump, the police stiffen as the Minister of Overseas Territories Marie Guévenoux passes, accompanied by local parliamentarians.

Even on the other side of the world, France is ensuring the security of the Games. Around 700 police and military personnel, including gendarmes, sailors and mine clearance specialists, are deployed in Tahiti. With resources concentrated in Teahupo’o, but also beyond: a patrol boat monitors the waters south of Tahiti, and an army plane flies over the ocean every morning for several hundred kilometers to ensure that no hostile ships approach.

The volume lowered for prayers

The village is far from perceiving this threat and does not wish to change its way of life, even for a week. Opposite the PK0 snack bar, where the famous Olympic wave sculpture stands, an Adventist church intends to celebrate Saturday Sabbath in peace.

The faithful ask the person in charge of the fan zone, on the beach about twenty meters away, to lower the volume during the service. Request accepted : the Adventists will pray while a few hundred fans admire the surfers on a giant screen. Among these fans, Tea Estall came with her family.

“There will be a concert tonight with musicians from the Peninsula, but I especially came to encourage Vahine and Kauli”, the two Tahitian surfers on the French team, so famous in Tahiti that they are now only called by their first names. And if one of them wins a medal on Havae's jaw, Teahupo”o will forget all the little inconveniences of the Games.