Sawt Falasteen - Olympic surfers deal with towering Teahupo'o

When the French Pacific island was first chosen it sparked controversy over the construction of an aluminium judges' tower at the paradisiacal venue.

But after the fears of local environmentalists that the coral reef would be damaged were allayed, surfing royalty pulled on their wet suits on Saturday with a mixture of fear and excitement.

For good reason because they are facing the majestic Southern Ocean waves, which when they explode on the reef produce the fearsome Teahupo'o.

Roughly translated as "sever the head" or "place of skulls", the wall of water features in the chart of the top 10 deadliest waves in the world.

"You've really got to face your fears, there’s no hiding out there," Australia's Molly Picklum said.

"Teahupo'o is a wave that made me grow in every sense of the word, mentally, physically, emotionally, in everyday life and in surfing," Vahine Fierro, born on a neighbouring French Polynesian island, told AFP.

"I was so excited I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach," said Fierro after topping her heat on Saturday to cement her standing as one of the main medal hopes.

"It’s really special to be able to surf my first Olympics at home," said the wave-chaser who beat Picklum to win the Tahiti Pro Olympic warm-up in May.

The women's draw has real depth with world number one Caitlin Summers and her American teammate Carissa Moore, the reigning Olympic champion, also in contention for gold.

This duo, with Caroline Marks, all dominated their heats.

The men's section is headed by two-time world champion John John Florence with the title vacant following the absence of Tokyo champion Italo Ferreira of Italy.

The Americans are looking like a force to be reckoned with after the first heats with Florence and Griffin Colapinto posting the best men scores.

Florence though was taking everything in his stride.

"When I get in the water everything just quietens down for me and I just go into that and surf," said the Honolulu-born 31-year-old.

French men's captain Joan Duru made a statement of intent when comfortably beating Australia title contender Jack Robinson.

For surf-crazy Brazil it was a mixed first day at only the sport's second appearance at an Olympics after its debut at the covid-delayed 2020 Games.

Brazil's three-time men's world champion Gabriel Medina who described Teahupo'o as "my favourite wave in the world" won his heat along with Joao Chianca.

But teammates Filipe Toledo and Tatiana Weston-Webb were forced to go through a 'surf-off' stage.

With the swell expected to increase Chianca commented: "We are really excited about the forecast and hope the best conditions stay solid and we get pumping Teahupo’o."

For some of the local inhabitants the whole Olympic experience has been underwhelming, with daily life made complicated by a heavy police presence, heavy access restrictions and the influx of Games' officials.

"It's true that it is an impressive event but we are tired of having to show our passes four times just to go 500 metres -- my biggest wish is for everyone to leave again," retiree Romain Taupua told AFP.

Heimiri Afo, a 30-year-old firefighter, said the Olympics had left a very visible presence.

"This is truly an opportunity to welcome all these countries. But we were never told about all the restrictions and we no longer recognise our beach, there are barriers everywhere."

The two finals are scheduled for Wednesday but could be delayed a day or two if the forecast poor weather arrives in surfing heaven.

D.Khalil--SF-PST