"You can either die or have the best day of your life" - World No. 1 Griffin Colapinto on surfing's venue for Paris Olympics

25-year-old Griffin Colapinto recently shared his thoughts about competing at Tahiti’s Teahupoo, surfing venue for the Paris Olympics 2024. The world no.1 described the iconic spot as somewhere you can “either die or have the best day of your life.”

The waves at Tahiti are among the world’s most dangerous, with a daring combination of speed, size, and power, testing a surfer's all-round prowess.

Surfing, added to the Paris Olympics 2024 for the first time in its history, will be held at the village of Teahupoo. The organizers believe that Teahuphoo’s treacherous waves would be ‘Olympic-level’ challenging for its surfers.

Tahiti has hosted some of the greatest surfing world championships and men’s Championships Tour for over two decades.

Griffin Colapinto, who recently became world no. 1 by winning the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, talked about the uniqueness of Tahiti-Teahupoo. During an interview with Team USA, the American surfer said:

"What makes Tahiti and Teahupo'o so iconic is basically how dangerous it can be and how rewarding it can be at the same time. It's just like you have that yin and yang to it. And you can either die or have the best day of your life. So it's one or the other. And uh that's what makes it exciting."

Colapinto secured a berth at the Paris Olympics last year by competing at the J-Bay Open stage in Jeffreys Bay. The young surfer talked about his headspace entering the Olympics for the first time in July 2024:

"My headspace going into the 2024 Olympics is keep doing what I'm doing, go to Tahiti, try and get more practice out there and, being open to anything that comes my way and not saying no just like, yeah just, trust the process." (1:39)

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Griffin Colapinto on winning the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal 2024

SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro

On Saturday, March 16, Griffin Colapinto clinched his first championship tour win of 2024 at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. The surfer went against friend and rival Ethan Ewing in the final and put in a dominant performance to surf an impressive 9.67 barrel.

He took the yellow jersey honour away from his competitor ahead of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, scheduled from March 25 to April 5.

After registering the win, the to-be Olympian Colapinto expressed his happiness. He told the reporters at Rip Curl Pro Portugal:

“I heard this saying, when the fires burning, throw an extra log on it so it burn twice as strong. So, the fire’s burning extra strong now.”