French Polynesia President "Totally Happy" With Progress Of Controversial Olympic Judging Tower
Construction has resumed on the embattled Olympic judging tower in Tahiti as preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games press forward. French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson is reportedly satisfied with the progress and the manor in which the development has continued.
“I’m totally happy with how the work is going after the controversy over the judges' tower,” Brotherson said in a French news story. “Polynesians have accepted the solution that was proposed.”
He goes on to note that about two thirds of the drilling has been completed and construction teams are preparing to pour concrete foundations.
“All the work is being followed by our services and everything is going well,” Botherson continued. “We’ve not had any (more) coral broken.”
The story goes on to explain how people that live in the Teahupo’o community, as well as the international surfing community, have been vocal in their opposition to the project. However, no locals or surfers are quoted in the piece.
Last month the president of Paris 2024, Tony Estanguet, confirmed that construction of the tower would continue after initial plans had been reworked to have less of a potential environmental impact.
“We respect the almost unanimous decision taken locally to continue with the launch of the construction work,” said Estanguet.
His statement came less than 24 hours after the International Surfing Association, the organization behind Olympic surfing, made it clear they would not support the construction of the tower and proposed other options.
Things in Tahiti came to a head last year when a construction barge collided with the coral reef, breaking off some of the coral. The situation illuminated the concerns of locals and environmentalists.
The judging tower is reportedly on track to be finished by early May, when it will get its first test at the WSL’s Tahiti Pro. The Olympics will take place later in the summer in July.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.