“It was a secret spot,” the surfer and Tahitian native remembered, as he stood on the pristine beaches of Teahupo’o on the island’s south side, waves crashing off in the distance.
Teahupo’o has since achieved world renown among surfers — the roaring wave garnered a reputation for its ferocious power — and will be home to the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing competition, scheduled from July 27 to Aug. 4.
The decision to host part of the Games here has thrust unprecedented challenges onto a small community that has long cherished and strives to protect a way of life more closely connected to wild lands and crystal-clear ocean than the fame promised by an Olympic stage.
The original proposed scale of the Olympic site – which called for new roads, housing units and even an aluminum judging tower that required drilling into the reef – caused a significant local backlash.
But concerns remain: Environmentalists and local fishers fear that drilling into the coral reef could attract ciguatera, a microscopic algae that infects fish and makes people sick if eaten, and many sustain themselves by what they catch in the ocean.
Born and raised in Teahupo’o, Gregory Parker’s morning routine consists of watching the waves crash along the horizon from his beachfront bungalow while smoking a cigarette.
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