Cyrille de la Morinerie with AFP / Photo credits: Jerome Brouillet / AFP
Technical tests filmed by environmental defense associations on Friday showed that a barge planned for the installation of a new judges’ tower broke coral, pushing the Polynesian government to pause the work and restart the questions about the controversial holding of the tests in Tahiti.
Concern hovers over the surfing events of the 2024 Olympic Games which are to take place in Tahiti. During technical tests on Friday, filmed by environmental defense associations, a barge planned for the installation of a new judges’ tower broke coral, pushing the Polynesian government to pause the work.
Lacanau and La Torche ready to replace Tahiti, if necessary
Questioned by the local television channel TNTV, the president of French Polynesia Moetai Brotherson now wonders if the surfing event will be able to be held in Tahiti. “We have to move forward and we have to look for solutions. If in the end there are no solutions, well, we will have to ask ourselves the question of the sustainability of the surfing events in Teahupo’o”, did he declare.
Contacted by Europe 1, the Paris 2024 Games organizing committee remains confident but according to our information, if no solution is found by Christmas, a plan B in mainland France could be activated. The sites of Lacanau (Gironde) and La Torche (Finistère), former candidates for hosting the surfing events of the 2024 Olympic Games, declared on Wednesday that they were prepared to host the event in the event that it could not be held in Tahiti.
A world-famous site
Chosen in 2020, the Teahupo’o site, known worldwide for its famous wave and its transparent waters, has for months been at the heart of tensions between the Polynesian government, the organizers of the Olympic Games and local residents. The initial project to install an aluminum judges’ tower to replace the wooden one – which was no longer up to standard, according to the organization – had already raised strong opposition, with associations believing that it risked degrading the seabed. .
In mid-November, the organizers and the Polynesian government therefore revised their copy with a project for a lighter tower in order to “limit environmental damage as much as possible”. This compromise was, however, far from unanimous, with more and more famous international surfers siding in recent days with the opponents of the new tower.