Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina posted the highest single-wave score in Olympic history with a 9.90 in the fifth round on Monday en route to the men’s surfing quarterfinals, and a photographer following him produced one of the most iconic images from the Paris Games.
After appearing to secure victory, photographer Jerome Brouillette captured Medina’s celebration. Medina and his board appear to float on the water as he raises his right arm in the air and makes a 1 sign with his hand.
Although he made history, Medina believed he could have done better.
“It felt like a 10. I’ve done 10s before, and I was like, ‘This is definitely a 10.’ The wave was so perfect,” Medina said.
“It’s a very dangerous area. When the waves are hollow like this, it gets very shallow. There are some solid waves there, but we love it.”
(Photo: Ed Sloan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
This summer, surfers will compete nearly 10,000 miles from Paris in Tahiti. Tahiti is a French dependency and the furthest away from a host city that has ever hosted an Olympic event.
Surfing made its Olympic debut at the 2021 Tokyo Games and has been approved for this year’s Summer Olympics as well as the 2028 Olympics.
The action continues Tuesday with the bronze and gold medal matches in the evening. Alonso Correa (Peru), Ryo Inaba (Japan), Kaoli Fast (France), Juan Duro (France), Joao Kianca (Brazil), Ethan Ewing (Australia) and Jack Robinson (Australia) will join Medina in the men’s quarterfinals.
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(Photo: Jerome Brouillette/AFP via Getty Images)
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