29 July, 2024
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. Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Gabriel Medina scored a near-perfect 9.9 in the heat, and went on to pick up bronze, ceding the gold medal to France’s Kauli Vaast. This photograph circulated widely, attracting more than 9.5 million likes on Medina’s Instagram alone.
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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