in Tahiti, surfer Vahine Fierro confirms her status as big favorite – Libération

The Frenchwoman won this week the Tahiti Pro, stage of the world surfing championship which took place on “her” wave of Teahupo’o and where the Olympic competition will take place at the end of July.

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She investigates the first ones. Vahine Fierro this week became the first French woman in history to win the Tahiti Pro, stage of the world surfing championship, on the formidable Teahupo’o wave, which has long been forbidden to female surfers.

For three years, Vahine Fierro, 24, has been traveling the world for the Challenger Series (the equivalent of the 2nd division) and perfectly used her knowledge of the Teahupo’o waves to defeat three experienced surfers from the world elite on Wednesday.

She beat the Australian Molly Picklum (world number 3) then the Brazilian Tatiana Weston-Webb (number 7) in the semi-final where the two young women chained hits in rollers measuring more than 3 meters. Invited by the organizers of the competition, the surfer from the neighboring island of Huahine and member of the French Olympic team then won in the final against Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy.

A flagship stop on the pro circuit, the Tahiti Pro has taken place every year at Teahupo’o since 1997. The spot is admired and feared around the world for its imposing, translucent tubes which crash violently onto a shallow reef. Citing the dangerousness of the spot, the organizers of the World Surf League (WSL) did not hold a women’s competition there between 2006 and 2021. And since 2022, the least busy days are most often used for women’s series.

“I wanted to go all the way for the surfers, to show that they can also shine here. The show was crazy. I’m as excited as if I had won,” said Tatiana Weston-Webb. “We all wanted to surf today and the WSL listened, I’m very happy about that. It is in these conditions that we will push each other, that we will fall, try again and show that we are capable of surfing here,” added Vahine Fierro.

Two months before the Olympics, which will take place from July 27 to August 5 in Tahiti, Vahine Fierro is now one of the favorites for gold, a medal which would be unprecedented for the overseas territory, where surfing has been practiced since from time immemorial.