French Polynesian Kauli Vaast and American Caroline Marks win surfing gold at Paris Olympics
TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti — French Polynesian Kauli Vaast won the gold medal in men’s surfing while American Caroline Marks won the gold medal in women’s surfing on Monday at the Paris Olympics in Tahiti.
Cheers and tears flowed from the boats floating near the wave and from the crowds of spectators along the shore as the men’s final match ended in the afternoon. Vaast raised his arms in victory after beating Jack Robinson of Australia, who received the silver medal.
“I don’t really realize it, but I just made history,” Vaast said. “I couldn’t be more proud to represent Tahiti and France on home soil.”
The women’s gold medal match ended about thirty minutes later, with Marks defeating Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil, who received the silver medal.
“Your whole life comes down to a moment like this,” Marks said. a gold medal around his neck. “It’s beyond all my wildest dreams.”
For the bronze medals, it was the Brazilian Gabriel Medina and the French Johanne Defay who won after beating respectively Alonso Correa of Peru and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica.
“Chopes has given me so many good waves, so many good results. So I can’t complain,” said Medina, using a common nickname for Teahupo’o.
Medalists, some barefoot, stood on the Olympic podium near the ocean as crowds gathered to cheer them on and take pictures. Roosters ran on the grass as young local surfers He called out the names of the athletes as they passed by.
All of the winners of the Paris Olympics surfing competition are first-time Olympic medalists, following reigning Olympic champion Carissa Moore of the United States, who won at the Tokyo Games, where Olympic surfing made its debut. was beaten in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
“Of course, I’m really sad that I can’t make it to the finals, that I can represent my home and my family again, but I’m really grateful,” Moore said after her loss. “I just hope that at the end of the day, I can encourage those who are watching, whether they win or lose, to not be afraid to go out there with no fear and not be afraid to fail.”
The final day of surfing competition at the Paris Olympics began Monday morning after two days late Due to unfavorable conditions. In the morning, conditions were smaller than the large barrel waves that Teahupo’o is known for and that were seen during part of the men’s competition The week before.
But in the afternoon, the waves got bigger and more frequent, allowing the athletes to impress the judges with the amount of time they spent in the tubes. At one point during the competition, a whale jumped out of the water as the surfers competed.
Six of the eight surfers who reached the semifinals represented different nations. The flags of French Polynesia, Peru, Australia and other countries flew from boats near the waves.
While not every surfer who competed was able to bring home a medal, many agreed that the second-ever Olympic surfing competition — filled with viral photographs, record-breaking scores and hours of stunning video footage broadcast to viewers around the world — helped promote the sport.
“Everybody’s watching and paying attention,” said Medina, who gained millions of followers on social media after a photo of him floating in the sky next to his surfboard while jumping off a wave went viral during the competition. “I think surfing wins.”
___
