عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Olympic Surfers Sleep on Cruise Ship in Tahiti, a 1st for the Games

Paris 2024 Olympics - Surfing - Women's Round 1 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia - July 27, 2024. A rainbow is seen near the judging towers. Ben Thouard/Pool via REUTERS
Paris 2024 Olympics - Surfing - Women's Round 1 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia - July 27, 2024. A rainbow is seen near the judging towers. Ben Thouard/Pool via REUTERS
TT
TT

Olympic Surfers Sleep on Cruise Ship in Tahiti, a 1st for the Games

Paris 2024 Olympics - Surfing - Women's Round 1 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia - July 27, 2024. A rainbow is seen near the judging towers. Ben Thouard/Pool via REUTERS
Paris 2024 Olympics - Surfing - Women's Round 1 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia - July 27, 2024. A rainbow is seen near the judging towers. Ben Thouard/Pool via REUTERS

Cardboard beds might be Paris' solution to providing athletes 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 surfing venue, the Aranui 5 ship is able to accommodate about 230 passengers in over 100 cabins, with eight guest decks, a spa and gym, according to its website. It's anchored just off shore and the surfers, coaches and others take small boats to get back and forth, The Associated Press reported.
“They have a wonderful location for the village, which is on a ship,” French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told AP. “It’s unusual, but they seem to like it.”
While media have been restricted from boarding the ship, athletes have shared photos and video on their social media that offer a glimpse into what the Olympics say is the first-ever floating athlete village.
“I think our athlete village in Tahiti is better than the actual one in Paris,” surfer Kanoa Igarashi of Japan said on TikTok, sharing a video tour of the accommodations.
In the video, he shows the amenities on board, including a 24-hour dining hall, fully stocked Olympic gift store and 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 pool with a statue of the Olympic rings at one end.
On TikTok, German surfer Tim Elter posted the sea view from his cabin, jokingly tapping the bed frame, saying how it's not cardboard like those at the Olympic village for athletes in Paris.
The ship helps alleviate some of the larger-than-usual crowds and need for new buildings that locals and activists said could affect the small town at the end of the road on the small island.
Not all athletes competing in Tahiti are staying on the ship.
Some national teams or individuals have rented houses closer to the waves, sharing photos of boardwalks leading from their back doors to the shore, communal dinners with teammates and lush green lawns lined with palm trees.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
TT
TT

Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Rafael Nadal wanted to play his last match before retiring in Spain, representing Spain and wearing the red uniform used by Spain's Davis Cup squad.

“The feeling to play for your country, the feeling to play for your teammates ... when you win, everybody wins; when you lose, everybody loses, no?” Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, said a day before his career ended when his nation was eliminated by the Netherlands at the annual competition. ”To share the good and bad moments is something different than (we have on a) daily basis (in) ... a very individual sport."

The men's Davis Cup, which concludes Sunday in this seaside city in southern Spain, and the women's Billie Jean King Cup, which wrapped up Wednesday with Italy as its champion, give tennis players a rare taste of what professional athletes in soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey and more are so used to, The AP reported.

Sharing a common goal, seeking and offering support, celebrating — or commiserating — as a group.

“We don’t get to represent our country a lot, and when we do, we want to make them proud at that moment,” said Alexei Popyrin, a member of the Australian roster that will go up against No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy in the semifinals Saturday after getting past the United States on Thursday. “For us, it’s a really big deal. Growing up, it was something that was instilled in us. We would watch Davis Cup all the time on the TV at home, and we would just dream of playing for it. For us, it’s one of the priorities.”

Some players say they feel an on-court boost in team competitions, more of which have been popping up in recent years, including the Laver Cup, the United Cup and the ATP Cup.

“You're not just playing for yourself,” said 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, part of Britain's BJK Cup team in Malaga. “You’re playing for everyone.”

There are benefits to being part of a team, of course, such as the off-court camaraderie: Two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini said Italy's players engaged in serious games of UNO after dinner throughout the Billie Jean King Cup.

There also can be an obvious shared joy, as seen in the big smiles and warm hug shared by Sinner and Matteo Berrettini when they finished off a doubles victory together to complete a comeback win against Argentina on Thursday.

“Maybe because we’re tired of playing by ourselves — just for ourselves — and when we have these chances, it’s always nice,” Berrettini said.

On a purely practical level, this format gives someone a chance to remain in an event after losing a match, something that is rare in the usual sort of win-and-advance, lose-and-go-home tournament.

So even though Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti came up short against Francisco Cerúndolo in Italy's opener against Argentina, he could cheer as Sinner went 2-0 to overturn the deficit by winning the day's second singles match and pairing with Berrettini to keep their country in the draw.

“The last part of the year is always very tough,” Sinner said. “It's nice to have teammates to push you through.”

The flip side?

There can be an extra sense of pressure to not let down the players wearing your uniform — or the country whose anthem is played at the start of each session, unlike in tournaments year-round.

Also, it can be difficult to be sitting courtside and pulling for your nation without being able to alter the outcome.

“It’s definitely nerve-racking. ... I fully just bit all my fingernails off during the match," US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz said about what it was like to watch teammate Ben Shelton lose in a 16-14 third-set tiebreaker against Australia before getting on court himself. "I get way more nervous watching team events, and my friends play, than (when it’s) me, myself, playing.”