Hawaii’s surfers set for Olympic journey

The Summer Olympics will make its grand return this week with the Opening Ceremony in Paris, France.

Almost 10,000 miles away, Hawaii’s Carissa Moore will look to defend her surfing crown.

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That’s because surfing at the 2024 Games will be held at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, and not in the City of Light.

Tahiti, which is located in French Polynesia, is a frequent host of notable surfing competitions. Because there are no natural surfing sites in Paris, Teahupo’o, a humble town in Tahiti, is the host. Surfing will be the only competition in the 2024 Games held outside of Metropolitan France.

Roughly 9,765 miles separate Teahupo’o and Paris, a lengthy trip no matter how it’s sliced. The distance between Honolulu to Grand Isle, Maine, one of the most northeastern locales in the continental United States, is 5,131 miles. How about Honolulu to Cairo, Egypt? That distance covers approximately 8,832 miles.

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Moore made Olympic history at the Tokyo Games in 2021, back when she won the first-ever Olympic surfing competition. The Punahou alumna topped South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag to win gold and will look to repeat.

The field in the 2024 Games features a heavy Hawaii presence. In addition to Moore, Hawaii’s Brisa Hennessy will represent Costa Rica, the country in which she was born.

Kauai’s Tatiana Weston-Webb will represent the Brazilian national team. Like Hennessy, Weston-Webb is representing her country of birth.

On the men’s side, Haleiwa native John John Florence will represent Team USA. Despite his status as one of the greats in the sport, Florence was hampered by an ACL injury in 2021 and was eliminated by Kolohe Andino in the third round in Tokyo.

Additionally, Hawaii’s Shane Dorian will serve as the head coach for Team USA.

Competition for surfing at the 2024 Games is set to begin on July 27.