When thousands of athletes attend the Olympic opening ceremony on July 26, surfer Carissa Moore will be among the unlucky few missing out. Close to 10,000 miles away from Paris, Moore will be in Tahiti - possibly enjoying a lower-key local parade - as she and her fellow competitors ready for action outside of the French mainland.
Surfing is not the only sport that will take place outside the confines of Paris this summer, as equestrian athletes compete in Versailles, football (in part) is held in Nice and field hockey is in the nearby suburb of Colombes.
Still, it's hard to not feel a bit of sympathy for the five-time world champion and surfing icon Moore, who had a similarly isolated experience during the Tokyo Olympics.
In 2021, she was stationed roughly two hours away from the Japanese capital in the town of Ichinomiya, and enjoyed a 'whole little [opening] ceremony' with the in-person celebrations broadcasted on TV.
And the best she can hope for this summer will be a similarly makeshift experience. 'I'm a little disappointed that we're so far away,' she said at Team USA 's media summit. 'I'm excited, obviously, to be in Tahiti and compete there. 'But to be so far away from everything - I haven't had the actual, like Olympic experience quite yet.
And not that I'm getting old. But I don't know how many Olympics I'll be a part of. But hopefully we'll get to get a plane over there and check out the closing ceremony.' While Moore will be far away from the hustle and bustle of Paris, the Olympic village and many of her fellow athletes, she's still looking forward to Tahiti
She and her USA surfing teammates will stay with her 'favorite' host family, a group that she was previously introduced to through her sponsors Red Bull. As the 31-year-old goes for her second Olympic gold medal, her belly will be fed with home-cooked meals, and she'll sleep right by the water she'll be competing on.
'I think the best way to experience a place is through a local’s eyes and local food and in their home. So it's really cool,' she said. 'We have the most beautiful view of the venue from their front yard, and a dock to have the skis and stuff… I mean, all of the families there are lovely. The people are just amazing.
swipe up for amazing stories