The Gabriel Medina show. The surfer whose photo coming out of the tube went around the world. We can see the eccentric Brazilian addressing the judges by making a ten out of ten with his hands, the maximum score.
Gabriel Medina is known for his explosive aerial maneuvers, regularly sending himself and his board across the surface of the wave and into the air at breakneck speeds. Photographers were in prime position to wait for Medina to “kick out,” coming off the face of the wave at the end of his run. “Sometimes he does an acrobatic move and this time he did and I pressed the shutter.”says AFP photographer Jérôme Brouillet.
Tests postponed due to weather
The Olympic surfing events were postponed again on Tuesday morning in Teahupo’o (Tuesday evening in Paris) due to winds that were unfavourable to wave formation and could resume on Thursday according to the organisers.
The competition was suspended at midday on Monday, before the women’s round of 16 where the two French women Vahine Fierro and Johanne Defay were due to compete for a place in the quarter-finals. Surfing is a discipline that is very dependent on the weather and this type of postponement is common during major competitions.
In Teahupo’o, organizers are reviewing the situation every morning, but on Tuesday they were expecting a postponement of at least two days. “From Thursday, the wind will return to the southeast, so the most likely recovery is Thursday”said Pascal Luciani, member of the Paris 2024 committee for the organization of the Olympic Games in Tahiti.
Franco-French duel between Joan Duru and Kauli Vaast in quarter
The competition can be postponed until August 5 at the latest. Since the series began on Saturday at Teahupo’o, the spot has offered magnificent tubes to the best surfers in the world, giving rise to spectacular images. The women’s round of 16 are all postponed, as are the men’s quarterfinals, including the other French-French duel between Joan Duru and Kauli Vaast.
Brazilians Gabriel Medina and Joao Chianca will also meet in the quarter-finals, as will Australians Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewin. Only the last quarter-final will pit surfers from different nations against each other: Peruvian Alonso Correa against Japanese Reo Inaba. Americans John John Florence and Griffin Colapinto, as well as Moroccan Ramzi Boukhiam, all serious contenders for the title, were eliminated on Monday.
