Which Olympic sport is being held in Tahiti? Everything about the French Island's importance during Paris Olympics 2024

By Soumik Bhattacharya

Modified Jul 23, 2024 16:00 GMT

The Paris Olympics is all set to get underway on July 26 in the French capital. Besides Paris, various other cities in France, such as Marseille and Nantes will be hosting events for the Summer Games.

However, there is an event at the 2024 Olympic Games that is set to be held 9765 miles away from the French capital on the Tahitian island of Teahupo'o. All the surfing events at the Olympics scheduled from July 27 to July 31 will take place on this island of French Polynesia.

The habitat in and around the region of the island of Tahiti is very rural with just a single restaurant and homestays for accommodation. One of the sole factors behind this type of hybrid model of the Olympics is because of the strong waves around the regions of Tahiti that should facilitate an amazing show by the surfers, and offer them with a tough challenge.

Besides making the event of surfing at the Olympics more interesting, Colin Jost - the host of NBC show Saturday Night Live - will also be providing commentary for the Tahiti event. In one of the recent network releases, Jost elaborated on his excitement for this opportunity. He stated during the conversation:

"I’m honored to get to watch the best surfers in the world compete on one of the heaviest waves imaginable, and to help showcase the rich history of surfing in Tahiti."

This is the second time such an instance will take place at the Olympics. The first time it took place was during the 1956 edition when the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne. But due to the Australian government's stern quarantine guidelines, all the equestrian events were held in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

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All you need to know about the US Surfers competing at the Paris Olympics 2024

Carissa Moore trains ahead of the Paris Olympics (Image via Getty)

The United States surfing team for the Paris Olympics consists of five members (three women and two men). The team will be led by 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Carissa Moore.

Besides, other members of the US surfing women's team include 2019 World Games silver medalist Caroline Marks, and 2021 US Open of Surfing champion Caitlin Simmers.

The men's surfing team for the United States will consist of two-time World Surfing Champion (2016 and 2017) John John Florence, and 2022 World Games gold medalist Griffin Colapinto.