Teahupo’o delivers as decision to include surfing at Olympics is vindicated

When surfing was added to the Olympics ahead of Tokyo 2020, many in the surf world expressed hesitation. Some even conveyed outright hostility. “Surfing in the Olympics will never work,” offered one observer. Other commentators felt similarly: “Surfing isn’t an Olympic sport for a reason.”

Some of these reservations were not unfounded. The sport’s reliance on the whims of mother nature make advance planning difficult; good waves and the major city infrastructure needed to host an Olympics rarely go together. There were fears of bad waves and subjective judging. The ultra-commercialised nature of the Games also jarred with the sport’s counter-cultural roots.

Related: Olympic surfing comes to Teahupo’o with beastly waves and controversy

The Games’ first attempt, in Japan, was a good proof of concept. The conditions were subpar, but the world’s best surfers seemed to take it in their stride. Many felt an immediate attraction to the Olympic context; Australian Owen Wright, who won the bronze medal in the men’s event, later described it as the “most special achievement” in what was already a glittering career.

On Saturday, half a world away from Paris, the second edition of Olympic surfing started with a bang – quite literally. As powerful Southern Ocean swells reach the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, having crossed thousands of kilometres of open ocean, the water heaves upwards and explodes on contact with the reef. The terrifying result is the fearsome Teahupo’o (which roughly translates as “wall of skulls”). And it offers the perfect gladiatorial arena for the world’s best surfers to vie for Olympic gold.

Suddenly, those pre-Tokyo doubts about surfing’s place in the Olympics seemed absurd. This was surfing at its best, and the Olympics at its best. An idyllic backdrop of verdant Tahitian mountains. One of the most technically difficult, challenging and downright dangerous waves in the world. The best surfers gathered from across the globe ready to charge the fast and furious Teahupo’o barrel.

The same is no doubt also true of the World Surf League, which held its annual Teahupo’o stop just two months ago. But there is something special about the Olympic circus. Whether it is the international attention, surfers in national colours, the gold medal on the line – this felt different. And so with the eyes of the sporting world on Tahiti, the opening heats began in earnest on Saturday morning local time.

Within one heat – the men’s event opener won by Australia’s Ethan Ewing – the stunning visuals alone had justified the inclusion of surfing in the Olympics. The high-quality swell – more than overhead, but not huge by Tahitian standards – also vindicated the organisers’ decision to hold the event 15,000 kilometres away from Paris; Tahiti receives regular swells in the southern hemisphere winter, while France’s beach breaks are unreliable throughout the northern summer.

It was perhaps not a vintage heat in surfing terms. It demonstrated, though, that competitive surfing requires as much tactical guile as pure talent. Ewing, nicknamed “ice man” during junior days for his clutch performances, nabbed the best score of the heat early, a mid-range 7.33. Then he waited. After regaining priority, Ewing controlled the line-up.

Minutes went by without Ewing taking off on a wave. At one point the Australian was narrowly overtaken by dual scores from South African Jordy Smith. But with barely a minute on the clock, Ewing finally decided it was his time – taking off on a smaller wave, flying high through a barrel before executing a big round-house cut. The ride will not make the highlight reel, earning just 2.57. But Ewing’s savvy use of priority left Smith and Germany’s Tim Elter (wearing a helmet in a nod to the wave’s power) without enough time to return fire.

As the broadcast director cut between sweeping drone shots of the magnificent turquoise water and the cloud-covered Tahitian mountains, it was an apt reminder: this may be a beautiful sport, but surfers don’t always need to win pretty.

The swell forecast in the days ahead is variable – organisers may face tough calls on when to run competition and when to hold. There is so far no sign of a mammoth swell that might turn the event from exciting to life-threatening, no repeat of the swell earlier this month that rendered the wave only surfable for those towed in by jet-skis.

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Observers had expressed safety concerns, with a gulf in Teahupo’o experience between the WSL regulars and entrants from non-traditional surfing nations (14-year-old Chinese qualifier Yang Siqi has won plaudits during training sessions this week for her fearlessness, continuing to charge despite several heavy wipe-outs). But the forecast in the days ahead looks average to good, rather than pumping.

No matter. While there will always be differences of opinion in a sport as diverse and varied as surfing, the opening day in Teahupo’o offered a vivid reminder of the sport’s Olympic potential. This is blockbuster viewing. And with the next two Games taking place in surfing heartlands, in Los Angeles and Brisbane, each proximate to regular WSL venues, the sport looks set to stay on the Olympic calendar.