French surfer Kauli Vaast returns to Teahupoo in competition, one year after his Olympic victory

A year after etching his name in the Olympic Games, Kauli Vaast returns to the waves of Teahupoo on Thursday, August 7, starting at 7 a.m. (7 p.m. in Paris) for the Tahiti Pro, a stop on the World Surfing Championship circuit. The 23-year-old Frenchman has received an invitation from the World Surf League (WSL), which organizes professional competitions in the discipline.

Olympic champion though he is, Kauli Vaast has been competing in the Challengers Series, the world's second division, for five seasons. In Teahupoo, he will be competing against athletes competing in the elite Championship Tour. Despite this status, he will be among the favorites. "He's the best on this wave. He's aiming for victory. He wouldn't be happy with any other result," his coach, Joan Duru, explained to Le Monde . And for good reason: Kauli Vaast knows it perfectly, having grown up in Vairao, 8 kilometers from this legendary blade, which hypnotizes as much as it terrifies.

Through countless sessions facing its wall of water, he has learned to read every shiver, every breath. Like a secret language. Every year, on this epic stage, the surfing elite come to challenge this brute force of the Pacific. " [Teahupoo] is very dangerous ," admits his coach, who finished 5th in the Paris 2024 Olympics. "You have to spend a lot of time there to tame it and not get injured."

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