The head of the organising committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will today visit the French Polynesian site chosen to stage the surfing competition.
A Surfer training days out from Billabong's annual Tahiti competition at Teahupoo reef. Photo: Andrea Izzotti/123RF
Etienne Thobois and his delegation will inspect Teahupoo on the island of Tahiti, which was approved as a venue by the International Olympic Committee last year.
The wave at Teahupoo is one of the regular stops on the professional world surfing circuit.
Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue said the territory's hosting of the Olympic surfing competition was highlighted in Tahiti's successful bid to stage the 2027 Pacific Games.
"It's a popular place at the best of times, with their extraordinary tourism market there," he said.
"I think also the fact that the Olympic Games surfing will be there in 2024, as part of the Paris Olympics, that was highlighted in their bid as an example of the world wanting to go there in just a couple of years from now for the next Olympic Games."
Paris will stage the 2024 Summer Olympics. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Paris 2024 delegation, which will spend four days in Tahiti, is also scheduled to meet the community.
Last year, a group of locals involved in tourism, sport and the environment asked to be involved in the preparations, fearing that the Games could spoil the area.
According to their information, the plan involved major developments, including building a helipad and an Olympic village.