The Paris Olympics scales back design of a new surf tower in Tahiti after criticism from locals

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

LE PECQ, France (AP) — Organizers of next year’s Paris Olympics are scaling back the metal tower they plan to build for judges and television cameras at the picture-perfect surfing venue in Tahiti. They’re bowing to concerns on the French Polynesian island about damage to sea life and its majestic Teahupo’o wave. The tower will still be built with aluminum out at sea. But organizers said Friday that it will be smaller, lighter, hold fewer people and will require shallower drilling than originally planned. Critics on the island have voiced fears for coral reefs, fish and other aquatic life when the tower’s foundations are drilled into the seabed and mounted on concrete.