Days After Facing Major Backlash, Olympic Surfing Committee Brings Back Hope With an Interesting Update for Paris 2024

Teahupo’o island in Tahiti has made headlines as the surfing venue for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Several voices, including the locals, surfing legends, and organizations, protested against the Olympic hosting committee’s recent developments in place. The clarion calls feared that the proposed developments might jeopardize the natural balance.  That conflict is still going on and darkness looms over the future of the event in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

The organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics seemed not to create a mountain out of a molehill. However, their latest decision to accommodate surfing participants on board an esoteric cruise ship has faced ambivalent reactions from stakeholders alike. 

The Olympics organizers zero in on an unlikely accommodation

After much conflict, the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics hired a cruise ship to house the surfing participants. The cruise ship, Aranui 5, will maintain a clear distance from the event location by docking in the bay of Vairao. However, the vast distance between Paris and Teahupo’o raised several arguments previously. But as per the report in The Inertia, the committee has assured that it won’t take more than 45 minutes to reach the venue from Aranui 5’s anchored location. 

Reportedly, Aranui 5 is a Romanian-made cruise ship. As per the specifications, the cruise ship can hold up to 254 people in its 103 cabins. Apparently, before finalizing the cruise ship as the accommodation, the organizers had decided to revamp a dilapidated hotel shut for 26 years, but the cruise ship plan was a majority consensus. A few star surfing athletes, however, have things to say. 

Athletes chime in

The decision on the accommodation of surfers and officials wasn’t welcomed wholeheartedly. Lucca Mesinas showed his elation for participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics while answering on the matter to The Inertia. “I’m just excited to be in the Olympics,” –quipped Mesinas.

Read more: International Surfing Association Inaugurates the First-Ever Olympic Training Program at Teahupo’o in Anticipation of the 2024 Paris Games

On the other hand, participants like Sarah Baum and Saffi Vette were pretty on board with the offbeat idea. Both of them supported the locals’ repudiation to build a community just for the Games. In that way, they supported the cruise ship decision of the hosting committee. But they decided to wait for the NOC to make a final call respectively as to vetoing possible options. Presently, the participants are still not sure about the number of options they have regarding accommodation. Many have preferred a nearer location as the accommodation. Uncertainty is the name of the game, but for now, the participants seem ecstatic aboard Aranui 5.

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