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The great Olympic wave explained

Posted by: The Conversation Global highlights

Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024

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Whether you loved or hated the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the action has well and truly kicked off now, and some of it is taking place a long way from metropolitan France. The world’s top surfers are half a world away, in French Polynesia. Why? Off the coast of Tahiti is a wave unlike any other on the planet: Teahupo'o, which translates somewhat ominously as “place of skulls”.

Check out this fascinating anatomy of the epic wave and all our other great coverage of the events, history and politics of the games.

Stephen Khan

Global Executive Editor, The Conversation

Brian Bielmann/Getty Images

Anatomy of a wave: what makes the Olympic surf break at Teahupo'o unique – and so challenging

Tom Shand, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

There are some great surfers vying for gold in Tahiti, but arguably the star of the show is the famous Teahupo'o wave itself. Here’s what makes it special, and why surfers respect its power.

Canada’s Evelyne Viens (left) scores a goal during the women’s Group A soccer match between Canada and New Zealand at Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, July 25, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Saint-Etienne, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Paris Olympics: Canada’s soccer drone scandal highlights the need for ethics education

Lianne Foti, University of Guelph; Kathleen Rodenburg, University of Guelph

This incident potentially impacts the nation’s international reputation and trust in Canadian athletes and raises questions about Canada’s commitment to ethical standards in sports.

EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK

Magnificent and humbling: the Paris opening ceremony was a tribute to witnessing superhuman feats of the extraordinary

Sarah Austin, The University of Melbourne

For the first time in Olympic Games history, the ceremony took place outside a stadium arena.

 
 
 
 

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