The world’s top surfers will be out to claim a slice of Olympic history when they gather in Teahupo’o later this month amid surfing’s second inclusion in the global event. But the 24 women surfers set to take on the famed break in Tahiti as part of the Paris Games will be following in the footsteps of oft forgotten female trailblazers who have already attempted – and occasionally succeeded – to conquer its fierce and heavy waves.
When the International Olympic Committee confirmed in 2020 that the Paris Games surfing events would not be held in France, but instead at Teahupo’o on the island territory of Tahiti, the reaction was mixed. This wave is considered so dangerous that, at the time, there had not been a women’s event held at the site since 2006.
