Team USA Olympics star Carissa Moore on her battle with depression, stepping away to start a family... and why she'll be 10,000 miles away from the Opening Ceremony in Paris

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.

'Regardless,' she said, 'I'm getting dressed up.'

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. It reminds me a lot of home that they all have the aloha spirit and really welcome you in.'

These Olympics could Moore's last as she announced in January that she'd be leaving the competitive surfing tour.

Ever careful not to call her next chapter a 'retirement' - she told the New York Times she was 'stepping back... or evolving' - she plans to start a family with her husband Luke Untermann.

Her time out of the water will also be filled by her foundation, Moore Aloha, and a documentary that Red Bull is producing on her.

Moore's step back from surfing came after 'following my heart and the joy,' she said. And the legendary surfer, who burst onto the pro scene 14 years ago and became Surf Magazine's youngest ever cover star, has long been in touch with her emotions.

She admitted this spring to experiencing a 'mental slump' following her third world championship in 2015, which forced her to reevaluate her career.

'I think I was just kind of going through the motions and really struggling with redefining myself and what success looks like for myself,' she said. 'I felt like I was kind of doing it for everyone else. And that bled into my personal life. I kind of lost the joy for a while. 

'I kind of hit rock bottom, was a bit depressed, dealing with anxiety. And that's when I really decided okay, things have got to change. Surfing’s always been joyful. I love my life. I just had gotten married. And so something's a bit off. So that's when I really started to ground myself in the process and finding the joy again.'

She'll certainly hope to feel that on the Teahupo’o wave in Tahiti, which she called a 'wonder of the world.'

Another USA water athlete, Daniela Moroz, will also be removed from the Olympic base in Paris.

The 23-year-old sailor and her peers will be competing in Marseille, where she'd already moved in April ahead of this summer's games.

Moroz said she'll still be attending the opening ceremony and wasn't worried about her accommodations lacking a sort of Olympic feel.

'We'll still have a village… the energy will be there,' she told Mail Sport. 'And that atmosphere will be there. And it'll still be like, quite high pressure and stuff. So I think I think it's gonna feel pretty real once we’re there.'

For Moroz, the extra time in Marseille (she's also spent time there the last two years) has helped her adjust to the wind patterns and waves she may see this summer.

Moore, who competed in Tahiti in May, will also have been appreciative of her previous experience with the island's challenging waves.

'The way that the water goes from really deep to really shallow and then... just kind of folds over itself. It's crazy,' she said.

As she embarks on her second (and potentially final) Olympic Games, she'll aim to add to her stuffed trophy cabinet - and keep track of her fellow competitors from afar. 

'We'll definitely be having some sort of stream going.'