As the Olympics officially get underway with the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, the surfing competition is actually being held in Tahiti. While most of the athletes are staying on a cruise ship in the South Pacific Ocean, Team USA and a few other countries chose to go in a different direction.
They rented houses at the “end of the road” instead!
Although there is actually a pretty large surfing community in France and the waves are not up to standard during this portion of the calendar year. As a result, the Olympic committee decided to outsource the event to iconic Tahitian wave, Teahupo’o. Tahiti is a French territory so it kind of counts.
In lieu of the traditional Olympic Village, most of the surfers are staying on a cruise ship with breath-taking views. They might have it even better than their Parisian counterparts, even though the Germans won’t stop wreaking havoc by forcing everybody on board to party— whether they like it or not!
The Americans don’t have to deal with the shenanigans. Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore, Caity Simmers, Griffin Colapinto and John John Florence have their own living space on land. It’s pretty sweet.
Team Brazil also rented a house that is walkable to the water.
Their setup could definitely be worse…
The Aussies have their own place as well, with a pool!
Every participating country was given the option on where it wanted to stay. They could either crash on the ship or rent out a house for only their team at the “end of the road.”
Surfing reporter AJ McCord explained what that means.
She also provided some insight as to why teams would elect not to stay on the floating Athlete’s Village.
Caroline Marks provided a Team USA-specific explanation for the decision to opt-out of the cruise ship. The 22-year-old said that it stems entirely from convenience and a desire for peak performance.
Marks, Moore, Simmers, Colapinto and Florence are all legitimate medal contenders in the men’s and women’s surfing competition at the Olympics. It would be disappointing if the United States did not leave Tahiti with at least a pair of medals, hopefully gold. The Team USA house will help ensure success!