FILE PHOTO: A surfboard sculpture is pictured in Teahupo'o, the venue for the 2024 Olympic surfing competition, Tahiti, French Polynesia, July 23, 2024. REUTERS/Lincoln Feast/File Photo
PAPARA, Tahiti (Reuters) -Tahiti welcomed the 2024 Olympic surfing event on Friday with blazing sunshine, songs and Polynesian culture honouring the sport's ancient roots, a world away from the rain of the Games' opening ceremony in Paris.
At a beachside park 40 km from the surfing venue of Teahupo'o, surfers poured sand from their home beaches into a communal vessel, combining the different colours and textures to symbolise unity and respect for the ocean.
"It was nice, definitely, very different to Paris," said Ramzi Boukhiam, who is representing Morocco in his second Olympic Games after the sport's debut in Tokyo.
"We're like 16,000 km away but we're in paradise and it was nice to see all the athletes, all the countries."
Joining the Paris opening would have been fun but was not possible given the distance, he said.
"Of course it would have been nice because you would be there with the whole nation, all Morocco, all the athletes, but the main goal is to win the contest and do that you have to come here early and get ready," Boukhiam said.
Ceremonial artefacts and some dignitaries arrived at the Tahiti ceremony in outrigger canoes and were carried up the black sand beach, where athletes paraded into a large tent.
Host nation France naturally received the loudest cheers, especially for local Teahupo'o surfers Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast who will be among the favourites when competition kicks off, likely on Saturday.
Athletes and officials danced with local performers wearing grass skirts and flower garlands before big screen TVs crossed live to Paris and a rain-soaked parade of nations.
Back in Tahiti, residents and visitors chatted and strolled around a market set up next door offering fresh vegetables and other local goods.
Tahiti is hosting the surfing because Teahupo'o is one of the world's best waves and beaches in France are mostly flat at this time of the year.
"It's just the simple life, especially at 'The End of the Road'", which Teahupo'o is also known as, said Boukhiam.
"It's got some crazy waves and I have a lot of local friends. I get along well with the Tahitians and I just like the Polynesian vibe."
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Tahiti, editing by Pritha Sarkar, Peter Rutherford)
