Teahupo’o has been selected as the battleground for the 2024 Paris Olympics where the world’s best surfers will go for the gold.
Yesterday Teahupo’o locals protested the $5 million aluminum judging tower Olympic Games organizers want to construct at the surf break for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It would replace the current—and fully functional—wooden tower that’s been used for years. Protesters say the new tower would damage the reef and the area’s ecosystem.
Surf videographer Tim McKenna, who has a passion for capturing Chopes in his work, spoke out on the issue yesterday with the post above.
McKenna captioned it:
“Every year the wooden judging tower at Teahupoo is assembled in the lagoon just before the @wslevent dates for the Tahiti Pro. Shortly after it is taken down and stored in containers ready for the next year. Sometimes a few pieces of wood need to be changed but it has basically been the same structure for the last 20 years.
“For the surfing events of the @paris2024 Olympic games the governing body requires a much larger and complex judging tower with very strict specifications. The tower needs to accommodate more people, have a perfect security standard, an air-conditioned room for the judges, electricity, running water for toilets and high-speed internet cables.
“The new alluminum tower is going to cost USD $5 million and have permanent cables and pipes from shore to the middle of the lagoon but the tower will also be disassembled after the event to mimimise the visual impact during the year.
“Yesterday over 500 people gathered at Teahupoo to do a peaceful walk to protest against this new tower and the impact it could have on the environment. Let’s hope the locals and environmental specialists and associations will follow all this process to make sure the end of the road stays in all its pristine glory.”
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