Tahiti Welcomes 2024 Olympic Surfing Event with Polynesian Celebrations

Tahiti greeted the 2024 Olympic surfing event with sunny weather, Polynesian culture, and a unifying ceremony. Surfers mixed sands from their home beaches, celebrating unity and the ocean. Local French surfers Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast were cheered as athletes paraded and danced with locals. The event bridges Tahiti and Paris, contrasting the rain-soaked opening ceremony in Paris.

Tahiti welcomed the 2024 Olympic surfing event on Friday with blazing sunshine, songs, and Polynesian culture honoring the sport's ancient roots, a world away from the rain-soaked Games' opening ceremony in Paris.

At a beachside park 40 kilometers from the surfing venue of Teahupo'o, surfers poured sand from their home beaches into a communal vessel, combining various colors and textures to symbolize unity and respect for the ocean. Ceremonial artifacts and some dignitaries arrived in outrigger canoes and were carried up the black sand beach, where athletes paraded into a large tent.

Host nation France garnered the loudest cheers, especially for local Teahupo'o surfers Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast, who will be among the favorites when competition likely kicks off on Saturday. Athletes and officials danced with local performers wearing grass skirts and flower garlands before big screen TVs crossed live to Paris and a rain-soaked parade of nations.

In Tahiti, residents and visitors strolled through a market offering fresh vegetables and other local goods. Tahiti, 16,000 kilometers from Paris, is hosting the surfing event due to its world-renowned waves, as beaches in France are mostly flat this time of year.

(With inputs from agencies.)