Home sweet home for athletes during Olympic competition at Teahupo’o. Photo: Aranui
Back in August, it was revealed that the Paris 2024 organizers hired a cruise ship to house athletes and officials for the Olympic surfing event at Teahupo’o. While most Olympic athletes will be staying in the Olympic Village in Paris, the organizing committee had to create an alternative housing arrangement for the surfers on the other side of the world in Tahiti. Apparently, this was the best solution to house the expected amount of visitors within 45 minutes travel of the venue, part of Paris 2024’s specifications. The organizers considered revamping a hotel that has been closed for 26 years, but those plans were scrapped in favor of the cruise ship.
The Aranui 5 will become its own floating Olympic village, equipped with 103 cabins that can house up to 254 people. The massive vessel will not be anchored in the Teahupo’o channel, or even out the back of the wave, but about five miles northwest of the event site in the bay of Vairao. Athletes are not obligated to stay on the ship. ISA President Fernando Aguerre recently told The Inertia that athletes will have the option to look for their own accommodation, but the cruise ship is where athletes will find the services and security provided by an Olympic village.
So what do the Olympians think about the cruise ship housing solution? I spoke with three provisionally qualified Olympians – Peru’s Lucca Mesinas, New Zealand’s Saffi Vette, and South Africa’s Sarah Baum – to hear their thoughts and opinions.
Peru’s Mesinas, who is fresh off qualification after winning the 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile, is indifferent as far as where he stays.
“I’m just excited to be in the Olympics,” said Mesinas, who also competed in Tokyo 2020. “I don’t care where I have to stay. The cruise is different from normal, but it can be kind of fun.”
Both Vette and Baum were supportive of the plan, but it appears that the details and protocols have yet to filter through the National Olympic Committees and back to the athletes, because neither had heard that staying on land was still an option.
“I think it’s unbelievable!” said Vette. “It’s pretty awesome to hear that the Tahitian locals rejected the idea to build all new accommodation just for the Olympics and decided to preserve their beautiful environment to keep everything as it was found. Huge respect to them for standing up for themselves and what they believe is right.”
“It will be interesting to know if it’s compulsory for athletes to stay on the boat or if they can stay at their country’s accommodation on land,” Vette added. “For some teams their accommodation has been booked for the last year or so, since Teahupo’o has been confirmed as the Olympic location, so I’ve been told. Being from a country that doesn’t have the funds to splash out and plan ahead, I don’t think I will have a choice but to stay on the boat during the Olympic window. I’m going to be happy to be there either way and I’m so excited to be amongst history and have the most amazing experience of my life! I’m sure it’s going to be run smoothly and we will be treated well while onboard and during the contest as well.”
Baum was similarly optimistic of the decision.
“Given the South African budget, I would imagine I will have to stay (on the boat) if that’s all that is up for offer from the South African NOC,” said Baum. “I would also think it’s going to be hard to house so many athletes on the island. I hear it’s already hard to do that with the CT as it stands. I’m honestly pretty happy to stay where the locals feel it is best for us to stay. I know that’s a bit of a ‘fence sitter’ statement, but I think the locals of Teahupo’o should ultimately help the ISA and the Olympic Committee do what’s best for their country and land.”
Even though the surfing event at Tokyo 2020 was held just 60 miles away in the Chiba Prefecture, parallels can be drawn between the Paris 2024 situation. At Tokyo 2020, many National Olympic Committees opted to get their own accommodations for surfers closer to the event site, while others braved the daily commute to the official athlete village in the Japanese metropolis.
As Baum pointed out, whether these three surfers want to stay on the cruise or not, the decision will likely come down to the NOC. And as Vette alluded to, some NOCs have surely already snatched up some of the ideal options on land near Teahupo’o and will not use the cruise. All in all, compared to the controversy that swirled around the proposed judging tower, the cruise ship decision appears to have been generally accepted by the locals and athletes alike.
