Paris 2024 threatens Teahupoo, the 'Wall of Skulls', one of the deadliest waves in the world: "Tournaments are for gladiators"

Many, many years ago, a battle between the eastern and western districts of Taiarapu (Tahiti) ended with the victory of the latter led by King Teahupoo. He decided to build a macabre wall with the heads of the defeated. This battle, this wall and this king gave their name to one of the most famous waves in the world. A wave to which all the great international surfers have made a pilgrimage to test themselves before its enormous jaws.

“It is one of the most powerful, the championships there are for gladiators”. The person who defines Teahupoo to EL MUNDO is Aritz Aranburu, the Basque surfer has surfed it on many occasions, but his first time was as exciting as it was bumpy.. He almost lives up to the name of the peak and hits his head on a coral that has claimed countless victims.. It can be said that he was lucky since his baptism resulted in cuts on both insteps after a bad fall and returning home on crutches.

Because of its fame, its beauty and its belonging, Teahupoo was chosen as the venue for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to celebrate the surfing test.. So far everything is correct, the fact is that in the technical visit of the Olympic committee it was estimated that a different structure was needed as a “security measure” for those in charge of judging the test.. The wooden booth in which the judges of the world surf circuit events are located seemed insufficient to them.

The point is that this structure, whose cost rose to 4.3 million euros, had to be supported by a base installed in the coral reef, one of the secrets that the Teahupoo wave builds together with the cold currents of the river that They flow into an underwater canyon.

surfing olympic games. Ola Teahupo

This type of work brings back bad memories for Aritz and he mentions when the bottom was dredged and the mythical wave of Mundaka (Vizcaya) was damaged or how the construction of a restaurant changed the course of a river and damaged another break in Mexico.. “In nature there is a harmony, when it is good there is no need to change it,” he says.

In the first phase of the installation, the coral was damaged, which generated a great wave of criticism from locals and also from some international surfers, including the legendary Kelly Slater, eleven-time winner of the world surfing championship.. “When the people there ask that things be kept the same, you understand it because the coral reef, which is very important there for fishing, is considered something sacred,” Aranburu said.

However, and despite the fact that this accident caused the stoppage of the works and serious self-criticism from the president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, Tony Estanguet; The French Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, showed a firm position: “There is no plan B, this is the right path”, rejecting the option of building the new structure on top of the current one to avoid damaging the seabed.

The B plans that had been suggested were, in addition to not building a new base on the coral, moving the event to other breaks in French Polynesia such as the nearby Tahuruu beach, in Lacanau or La Torche, cities that demand to know before Christmas to prepare for the event. Although these options are impossible today. “If you think of Tahiti, Teahupoo is the most powerful,” Aranburu concedes.

Agreement

After some final meetings between all the parties involved, it seems that an agreement in principle has been reached, reducing the weight of the structure to be installed for less invasion of the precious coral.. It would not have the same weight to win the gold medal in another spot other than Teahupoo. “When it increases in size and is powerful, you no longer think about who you are competing against but rather against yourself,” says Aritz.

The Basque surfer, who has experienced some of his best moments on a board there, such as the two eliminations of Kelly Slater in the World Surf Association (WSL) championship, has also experienced bad ones and we are not just talking about his debut.. “It's a double-sided wave, when it goes well it is the best of your life, but when it goes bad it has its risks,” he says.

Five surfers have died after hitting the coral reef that forms these incredible walls up to three meters thick and, sometimes, several meters high.. The wave is produced by suction so, when it is formed, there is only a film of water between one and two meters above the coral.. A marine element that, at certain speeds, cuts the skin like a blade. Almost all the surfers who have dared to try Teahupoo have tried it, just some with more luck than others.

The Spanish surf team is not yet classified to surf the wall of skulls. The team composed of Kai Odriozola, Andy Criere and Yago Domínguez, in the men's category and Nadia Erostarbe, Janire González-Etxabarri and Lucía Machado, in the women's category, must obtain their ticket to the ISA World Surfing Games in Margara (Puerto Rico) between February and March 2024.