Brazil's Gabriel Medina bursts out triumphantly from a large wave in the fifth heat of round three of men’s surfing, during the 2024 Olympic Games, in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Medina scored a near-perfect 9.9 in the heat, “kicking out” at the end of his run (throwing his body weight onto the back of the board, forcing it into the air) and pointing skywards to celebrate his success. This photograph circulated widely, attracting more than 9.5 million likes on Medina’s Instagram alone.
A surfer from the age of eight, Medina made history as the first Brazilian to win the World Championships in 2014. He continued to dominate the sport, clinching world titles again in 2018 and 2021, and earning the accolade of the world's best surfer. But the 2020 Tokyo Olympics saw a setback, when he narrowly lost to Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. The 2024 games seemed to herald a comeback, when he beat Igarashi in this triumphant round, only to cede the gold medal to France’s Kauli Vaast and silver to Australian Jack Robinson in the finals.
Surfing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For the 2024 Paris games, the surfing contests were held almost 26,000 kilometers from France, in Tahiti in semi-autonomous French Polynesia, a region renowned for its challenging waves.
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