1600 kilometres away from the rain-filled Olympic opening ceremony in Paris, sunny Tahiti welcomed 48 Olympic surfers and more than 2000 spectators in a ceremony filled with symbolism and cultural joy.
Putting the Olympic values and spirit of diversity, unity, and mutual respect on full display, this sister ceremony included traditional Tahitian song and dance, a Sands of the World event, and a Rahiri practice.
Local dancers in natural dress, such as long grass skirts and straw hats, regaled the audience with a performance of Ori Tahiti, a French Polynesian dance highlighting the Olympic location’s rich culture and traditions at the world stage.
Rooted in Tahiti’s history, the choreography of Ori Tahiti represents myths and legends through specific hand gestures, while repetitive movements of the hips and lower body keep the rhythm of the dance.
After the professional performance, the athletes were invited to dance as well, engaging with the deep culture and history of the island together before the fierce competition of the coming days.
In this longstanding tradition organized by the International Surfing Association, each athlete brings a jar of sand from their home beach to pour into a communal receptacle one by one. The diverse, vivid colors and textures of each type of sand layered together symbolize both the uniqueness of each athlete and country as well as the solidarity that they share through their sport and the unifying spirit of the Olympic games.
Canadian sand got on the Olympic beach as Sanoa Dempfle-Olin arrived for her and Canada’s Olympic surfing debut in Tahiti. The Canadian brought sand from Tofino, the beach from which she learned to surf and grew up on in British Columbia.
READ: Surfing 101 with Sanoa Dempfle-Olin
Athletes were invited to immerse themselves into yet more local culture as they participated in a Rahiri ceremony, an ancestral tradition in French Polynesia practiced at the start of important competitions to create and protect peace and order within the event, honor the past of the sport, and promote good sportsmanship for those involved. Each athlete placed a banana leaf in a vessel, acknowledging the rules and protocol of their competition and inviting their deceased ancestors to come and support them in the coming days.
Olympic surfing events, held on the Teahupo’o wave, 40 kilometres from the grounds of the Tahitian opening ceremony, started on July 28 and will continue until July 31. Known for its surf break and heavy, glassy waves offshore, Teahupo’o has already been the site of the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition and is part of the world championship surfing tour.
Dempfle-Olin made it to the second round of the women’s competition and will now head home to Tofino with plenty of amazing memories and pride in the way she represented Canada in surfing on the Olympic stage.
