Paris Olympics event hit by second postponement with new date needed for heats

The Paris Olympics surfing competition is facing delays, with the next heats postponed due to bad weather . This marks the second disruption after the men's triathlon was previously put on hold.

Scheduled to start at 6 pm BST, the heats have been rescheduled as storms lashed Tahiti, the host island. Erik Kramer, the International Surfing Association technical director, informed competitors of the change on Tuesday.

His announcement stated: "The competition is OFF tomorrow 30/07/2024 7.00 am GMT+10 with a color code of RED. Technical delegate's decision on color code tendencies for the next session is expected on 30/07/2024 at 17.45 GMT+10."

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Tahiti's surfing venue has been battered by strong winds and heavy rain, leading to poor conditions for surfing. Despite predictions from Surfline of large waves for Tuesday and Wednesday, the onshore winds could render the surf "disorganized and potentially out of control".

This has necessitated the postponement of the upcoming heats, with only four days available in the designated 10-day window for the event. Officials are set to decide on the new schedule for the heats later this afternoon in Tahiti, reports the Mirror .

The men's competition, now in the quarter-final stages, had to endure uninspiring conditions on Sunday. The rest of the competition operates as a knockout, with each heat featuring two surfers and the winner progressing to the next stage.

Peruvian surfer Alfonso Correa is set to compete against Japan's Reo Inaba, while French competitors Kauli Vaast and Joan Duru will face off for a spot in the final four. The other two quarter-finals will see Brazilians Gabriel Medina and Joao Chianca go head-to-head, while Australians Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing complete the final eight.

Robinson disclosed that he nearly drowned during his victory over world No 1 John Florence in the previous round, after experiencing several wipe-outs that necessitated rescue from a jet-ski.

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"I got dragged over the bottom and almost had a two-wave hold under," he said. "I didn't get much air. There wasn't much time. I got reminded of so many guys who have had so many bad wipe-outs here.

"I have had some pretty bad (wipe-outs) but in a contest it's different. You have way more adrenaline and there is way more on the line. Every other sport is in a court or a stadium. We are in an ocean. It is the biggest, most powerful source of life we have on this planet.

"'The waves are so powerful. It doesn't relate to any other sport. Maybe an avalanche coming down on your head on a mountain. Maybe it's similar to that. It's so dangerous and so crazy."

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