Olympic surfers sleep on cruise ship in Tahiti, a first for the Games

VICTORIA MILKO, Associated Press

41 minutes ago

The Aranui 5 cruise ship sits off the coast for the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition Friday, July 26, 2024, near Teahupo’o, Tahiti. The cruise ship is being used to house athletes competing in the surfing competition. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti (AP) — Cardboard beds may be Paris’s solution to providing athletes with a place to sleep for the 2024 Olympics. But some 10,000 miles away in Tahiti, where the surfing competition is taking place, it’s a cruise ship.

About 45 minutes from the surf spot, the Aranui 5 ship can accommodate about 230 passengers in more than 100 cabins, with eight guest decks, a spa and gym, according to its website. It is anchored just offshore, and surfers, coaches and others take small boats to get there and back.

“They have a beautiful location for the village, which is on a ship,” French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told The Associated Press. “It’s unusual, but they seem to like it.”

Although media is not allowed on board the ship, athletes have shared photos and videos on social media offering a glimpse into what the Olympics claims is the first-ever floating athletes’ village.

“I think our athletes village in Tahiti is better than the real village in Paris,” Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi said on TikTok, sharing a video tour of the accommodations.

In the video, he shows off the onboard amenities, including a 24-hour dining room, a fully stocked Olympic store and an activity center with ping-pong and foosball tables.

Matt Scorringe, a coach traveling with the New Zealand surfing team, shared an Instagram video from the ship showing a swimming pool with a statue of the Olympic rings on one side.

German surfer Tim Elter posted a photo on TikTok of the sea view from his cabin, jokingly tapping the bed frame and saying that it’s not made of cardboard like the ones in the Olympic village for athletes in Paris.

The ship will help alleviate some of the increased crowding and need for new buildings that locals and activists say could negatively impact the town at the end of the road on the tiny island.

Not all athletes competing in Tahiti stay on the ship.

Some national teams or players rent homes closer to the waves and share photos of the boardwalks leading from their back doors to the shore, of communal dinners with teammates and of lush green lawns lined with palm trees.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games