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
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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.



Lewis Hamilton Steps Out in Red at Unprecedented 10-Team F1 Launch 

Formula One F1 - F1 75 Live Season Launch - The O2, London, Britain - February 18, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with team principal Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc during the launch. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - F1 75 Live Season Launch - The O2, London, Britain - February 18, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with team principal Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc during the launch. (Reuters)
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Lewis Hamilton Steps Out in Red at Unprecedented 10-Team F1 Launch 

Formula One F1 - F1 75 Live Season Launch - The O2, London, Britain - February 18, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with team principal Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc during the launch. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - F1 75 Live Season Launch - The O2, London, Britain - February 18, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with team principal Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc during the launch. (Reuters)

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton appeared in Ferrari red for the first time outside of Italy as Formula One put on an unprecedented and spectacular 10-team season launch in front of 15,000 fans on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old Briton, who has moved from Mercedes, got the loudest cheer of the night when he took the stage for an event that coincided with the birthday of his Italian team's late founder Enzo.

"I feel so full of life, so much energy, because everything's new and I'm just focused on what is up ahead," Hamilton told his home crowd at London's 02 Arena.

"I'm so proud to be part of the team. Something new and exciting for me."

The two-hour show, with British comedian and host Jack Whitehall gently ribbing the protagonists, featured lights, lasers and musical acts including former boy band Take That and US country singer Kane Brown.

Liberty Media-owned Formula One said early in the evening that its YouTube channel had smashed through the one-million viewers mark, breaking a previous live-event record of 289,000.

"This event is all about the fans and without the fans there is no sport," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told reporters before the show started.

"I'm sure it's probably the last place that the drivers want to be, paraded out in front of a stadium full of fans, but Formula One is an entertainment, it's a show, and it's the 75th anniversary (of the championship).

"So a huge amount of effort has gone into tonight by Formula One and all 10 teams."

There was a time when the teams struggled to agree even on what day it was, but Formula One's surging popularity and revenues have concentrated minds.

The success of Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive, and the arrival in cinemas later this year of Brad Pitt's Hollywood drama F1, led to tickets for the event selling out in a matter of minutes.

The show, featuring all 20 drivers, was broadcast live around the world and streamed on social media.

"It feels like there's a big rock concert about and ready to happen," American Zak Brown, chief executive of champions McLaren, told reporters earlier.

"I've been a fan for a while of doing more fan events, whether that's a launch or making the testing that we do a little bit more focused on the fan."

The teams each had just seven minutes to present their liveries - the cars either old ones re-painted or engineless shells made just for show that will not go anywhere near a circuit.

Red Bull's at least had an engine in it, but Sauber had announced well in advance that theirs would be auctioned off after the event.

New Zealand's Liam Lawson and four-time world champion Max Verstappen took the stage for Red Bull, but neither spoke.

Lawson is set to compete in his first full season in Formula 1.

Ferrari, last year's runners-up, will be launching their 2025 car at Maranello on Wednesday while McLaren and Williams ran theirs at Silverstone last week in interim liveries.