Peva Levy said he felt a powerful, natural energy known as B次元官网网址渕anaB次元官网网址� when he surfed TeahupoB次元官网网址檕B次元官网网址檚 waves on a piece of plywood for the first time, rushing down a crumbling white surf in front of an untouched volcanic beach several years before the steady streams of surfers started arriving when the village got its first asphalt road over fifty years ago.

B次元官网网址淚t was a secret spot,B次元官网网址� the surfer and Tahitian native remembered, as he stood on the pristine beaches of TeahupoB次元官网网址檕 on the islandB次元官网网址檚 south side, waves crashing off in the distance. B次元官网网址淏ut it was not a secret spot for a long time.B次元官网网址�

TeahupoB次元官网网址檕 has since achieved world renown among surfers B次元官网网址� the roaring wave garnered a reputation for its ferocious power B次元官网网址� and will be home to the surfing competition, scheduled from July 27 to Aug. 4.

The island in French Polynesia is an overseas territory of the European nation. The decision to host part of the Games here has thrust unprecedented challenges onto a small community that has long cherished and strives to protect a way of life more closely connected to wild lands and crystal-clear ocean than the fame promised by an Olympic stage.

And while organizers to conserve the local environment, ensuring that the village of TeahupoB次元官网网址檕 stays a village is proving to be a struggle for locals.

The original proposed scale of the Olympic site B次元官网网址� which called for new roads, housing units and even an aluminum judging tower that required drilling into the reef B次元官网网址� caused . Environmental and surf communities banded together to protect TeahupoB次元官网网址檕B次元官网网址檚 culture, its corals and its marine life.

B次元官网网址淚t was too much for us, a big change. And it was just for, like, one weekB次元官网网址� of competition, Levy said, whoB次元官网网址檚 also a member of the local environmental organization Vai Ara O TeahupoB次元官网网址檕.

Though itB次元官网网址檚 , there is not one surf shop in TeahupoB次元官网网址檕, with the town forgoing most of the development thatB次元官网网址檚 usually a staple at popular surf destinations. At the end of the villageB次元官网网址檚 road lies its sole snack bar which is only open for lunch and serves fish caught that morning. Kids spend the afternoon surfing as families watch from the black sand beaches. At night, the distant roar of waves barreling down onto the reef lulls the town to sleep.

B次元官网网址淲e loved this place because it was still wild, there were not many people over here. There was a lot of fish all around, and that good mana,B次元官网网址� Levy said.

In response to criticism, now 98% of Olympic housing will be within the homes of locals, with athletes accommodated on a cruise ship anchored nearby. The and new infrastructure plans are being drawn up to minimize the need for new construction.

But concerns remain: Environmentalists and local fishers fear that drilling into the coral reef could attract ciguatera, a microscopic algae that infects fish and makes people sick if eaten, and many sustain themselves by what they catch in the ocean.

Mormon Maitei, 22, makes a living from spearfishing in the lagoons, feeding his family and selling what he has left over. B次元官网网址淭he lagoon is our refrigerator, itB次元官网网址檚 where we get our dinner from,B次元官网网址� he said.

The sought-after shape of the waves could be affected, too, islanders say, if the reef were to fissure and lose the shape that the waves rely on to form.

B次元官网网址淚f it does crack and break off, there will be no more wave over here, it will be finished for us,B次元官网网址� said Levy.

In December, local fears were confirmed when a barge razed sections of coral on its way to the construction site on the reef. A video of the damage spread on social media, provoking an outcry.

Cindy Otcenasek, the president of Via Ara o TeahupoB次元官网网址檕, called the destruction deeply hurtful. B次元官网网址淚n Polynesian culture, gods are present everywhere, in the coral, in the ocean,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he ocean is considered to be the most sacred temple.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he fish live around the corals so if we break a coral, we break a home,B次元官网网址� she said.

Olympic organizers expressed their concern over the incident.

B次元官网网址淚t was awful for us,B次元官网网址� said Barbara Martins-Nio, a senior event manager for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organization Committee. B次元官网网址淭ahitians have this special relationship with nature, with their lands, and it was like a bomb for us.B次元官网网址�

Martins-Nio said that their interactions with local groups are now improving, and the organizing team has taken a step back on several issues and are better involving local groups so that construction work is fully transparent.

Despite the fears, some on the island still see the Games as an opportunity. Much of the local population is in favor of the Games, the economic benefits it could bring and the standing it will give their little corner of French Polynesia.

Born and raised in TeahupoB次元官网网址檕, Gregory ParkerB次元官网网址檚 morning routine consists of watching the waves crash along the horizon from his beachfront bungalow while smoking a cigarette. But while the Games are in town, heB次元官网网址檚 willing to sacrifice that for a bit of spare cash by renting it out.

His family owns a significant portion of properties in the village that are regularly rented out to the international surf community during the annual World Surf League competition, and he intends to do the same for the Olympics.

B次元官网网址淚 will try to live at my daughterB次元官网网址檚 house during the Games. If she also rents out her house, I have a tent,B次元官网网址� Parker said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not hard for two weeks, and given all the money I will make, itB次元官网网址檚 worth it.B次元官网网址�

In January this year, just months before the Games, a small group of local surfers bobbed up and down in the water, awaiting the perfect wave, when 21-year-old Kauli Vaast, whoB次元官网网址檚 competing in this yearB次元官网网址檚 Olympics, spotted it forming.

HeB次元官网网址檚 quick to slide his board into one of the glassy tubes, gliding out before the wave thunders down onto the reef, a monstrous spray of lapping white froth raining down behind him.

B次元官网网址淢agical things happen here, you feel this energy and you must show respect,B次元官网网址� said Vaast. B次元官网网址淚t is so important to show respect in these types of places where you face mother nature.B次元官网网址�

Vaast learned how to surf on these waves at just eight years old, nearly 40 years after Peva Levy first felt the waveB次元官网网址檚 mana. Mana that many islanders feel B次元官网网址� and want to preserve.

B次元官网网址淲e hear a lot about the infrastructure and heritage that will be left by the Olympic Games, but we already have an ancestral heritage,B次元官网网址� said Via Ara o TeahupoB次元官网网址檕B次元官网网址檚 Otcenasek. B次元官网网址淭eahupoB次元官网网址檕 is the land of God before being the land of the Games.B次元官网网址�

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