TEAUPO, Tahiti (AP) — With the ceremonial blast of a conch horn and the sound of a judge’s bugle, the third day of the Tahiti Olympic surfing competition began Monday as male surfers went head-to-head, some concluding their battle for gold medals.
Great waves and consistent swells in the morning heats brought renewed energy to competitors and spectators. Sunday wasn’t goodMeanwhile, the weather rapidly deteriorated around midday due to a storm, forcing the women’s afternoon competition to be postponed.
“This is probably going to be one of the most exciting days… there are some amazing waves,” said South Africa’s Jordy Smith, who lost the day’s first heat to Peru’s Alonso Correa. “I got beaten up a couple of times.”
Emerging from a barrel and swerving across a 10-foot wall of cerulean blue water, French Polynesian surfer Kauri Vaast, arms in the air and a huge smile on his face, beat Griffin Colapinto of the United States to win his heat.
“After a great ride, a great takeoff and a great wave, I just came out,” Verst said. “I felt good at the time, I was super happy and just enjoying the moment.”
Colapinto’s loss was the first for the U.S. surfing team at the Paris Olympics, which won all of its surfers in the opening round and advanced directly to Monday’s round. John John Florence of the U.S. also dropped out of the competition.
In Brazil, Filipe Toledo lost to Japan’s Reo Inaba, becoming the first surfer from the country to be eliminated from the competition.
Gabriel Medina of Brazil made Olympic history on the waves, earning the highest score in Olympic surfing history with a 9.9 score, just shy of a perfect 10. After surfing, he leapt into the air and raised his right arm in a gravity-defying moment, pointing to the sky.
Sometimes, Water Safety Patrol personnel would get on jet skis to pull surfers out of the water, tow them to calmer waters, and then send them back out on the jet skis into the waves.
“It’s really dangerous out there. It’s so shallow, you can see the coral,” Medina said after his win over Japan’s Igarashi Kanoa.
On land, emotions were running high. Insults were hurled at the surfers as they returned to shore. The team shook their heads as their broken boards lay on the ground, broken by the force of the waves. The opposing team’s staff whistled and applauded in awe of their opponents’ surfing and watched in amazement as the surfers re-emerged from the heavy puddles.
Strong winds picked up around midday, worsening the surfing conditions and disrupting the men’s final heat, forcing the women’s competition to be postponed.
Monday was the final day of men’s competition before the quarterfinals, semifinals and gold medal match take place on the fourth and final day of competition.
Peru’s Correa, Japan’s Inaba, France’s Joan Duru and Vaast, Brazil’s Joao Chianca and Medina, and Australia’s Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson have qualified to compete on the final day of men’s competition.
The remaining competition will be head-to-head, single-elimination brackets, with two surfers competing in each heat, with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and gold medal heat in the final stage of the competition.
The next competition date will be determined after officials assess wave conditions.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-Paris-Olympic-Games
