ISA Issues Official Statement Condemning Olympic Judging Tower At Teahupo'o In Tahiti
The International Surfing Association, the organization charged with running the Olympic surfing program, have made an official statement that they will not support the construction of a new aluminum judging tower at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. For months now the proposed development at the Olympic venue has been mired in controversy as surfers and environmentalists voiced concerns over damaging the area’s pristine coral reef ecosystem.
“On December 9th, the ISA sent a proposal to the French Polynesian Government and Paris 2024 organizers to run the Olympic Surfing competition in Teahupoo, without building a new aluminum tower on the reef,” reads the ISA statement.
“Subsequently the French Polynesian Government decided to go forward with a plan to build a new aluminum tower on the reef,” continues the statement. “The determination that the existing wooden judging tower, used up until August 2023, was not legally compliant, was taken by the Government of French Polynesia.”
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“We are ready to work together with all the stakeholders in the best interests of the sport, the environment and the local community,” they add.
The embattled judging tower plan at Teahupo'o came to a head earlier this month when a construction barge crashed into a section of the reef, damaging the coral. The incident, caught on video and shared on social media, raised even more red flags about the plan and construction was halted.
The ISA has put forth a number of viable options for judging the 2024 Olympic surfing event at Teahupo’o. Among the options are putting the judges in a tower on land and using cameras on an existing platform on the reef to aid in their scoring. They are also recommending adding a boat in the channel for officials to help with priority and in-heat issues. The boat would also be a relay point with the judges on the tower for real-time radio contact.
The surfers have spoken. The International Surfing Association has spoken. Now it’s up to the French Polynesian Government and Paris 2024 organizers to decide which course they are going to go.
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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.