Paris 2024 chief pledges to find solutions to keep Olympic surfing in Tahiti after coral damage

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
AP Sports Writer

The Paris 2024 organizing committee president says he still wants the surfing competition at next year’s Olympics to take place in Tahiti despite the controversy surrounding the construction of the judging tower at the site, where coral has been damaged. Tony Estanguet tells local media Polynesie La Premiere that he will pour “all (his) energy” to keep the surfing in French Polynesia at the Tahiti site of Teahupo’o. Teahupo’o’s surf breaks offshore so the Olympic judges have to be out in the lagoon. An aluminum tower will be attached to the reef. But coral was damaged when organizers tried to test out a barge used to build the tower in the surfing lagoon.