On May 30, Vahine Fierro entered a new dimension. By winning at home in Tahiti, on the legendary Teahupo'o wave, the 24-year-old surfer experienced a historic moment in very delicate conditions, with tubes more than two meters high. The kind of victory that changes status, taking you from hot prospect to potential champion. The perfect timing two months before the Olympic Games which will take place on the same spot, on this wave that she knows better than her opponents. “Which will be a great advantage, we’re not going to lie,” confides the young woman. “Although on the other hand, I'm still young, I'm not yet on the CT (Championship Tour, the elite competition for professional women's surfing) and I don't have the same experience as others.
However, Vahine Fierro has long had a thwarted love affair with Teahupo'o. After refusing to take to the water for a long time, the native of the island of Huahine ended up being convinced by Kauli Vaast, her partner on the French team during these Paris Games, whom she considers to be “a brother. Without him I would never have surfed Teahupo'o. It's thanks to him that I know this spot better, that I operate there with much more confidence. He pushes me up. He also sometimes pushes me to the limit. But it's beautiful to experience all this together, especially these first Games for both of us. It's a special feeling.
This trophy, in such conditions, also allows her to become, in a certain way, the incarnation of Vehiatua, the daughter of a local chief who would have been the first to surf the Teahupo'o wave at the reef, and not from the beach. This triggered the jealousy of King Teihe Moe Roa who, according to legend, had the young woman killed to take her first name and... fail to surf this wave. “Right after I won, one of my first thoughts was that this legend was true. When I was the first Polynesian surfer to win this stage, I felt like I was part of this legend. It was magical.
For its second appearance at the Olympic Games, the shortboard events will take place at the legendary spot of Teahupo'o (Tahiti). Four French people are competing in the competition: Vahine Fierro (24 years old), Johanne Defay (30 years old), Kauli Vaast (22 years old), and Joan Duru (35 years old). Vahine Fierro, qualified from her place in the final at the 2023 ISA Worlds in El Salvador, is competing in the 2nd series. She will face Sol Aguirre (PER) and Janire Etxabarri (ESP). The Frenchwoman, winner of the Tahiti Pro at the Teahupo'o spot at the end of May, is among the favorites of the competition, and intends to finish on the first step of the podium.
