Almost perfect ride
“Almost died” – now he’s an Olympic champion!
Frenchman Kauli Vaast from Tahiti won gold in the men's surfing competition in Teahupo'o on Tahiti with an almost perfect heat on Monday. At the start of the competition, he had to overcome a major scare: "I almost died!"
During his daring wave ride around a week ago, Vaast performed the "Superman". A trick in which the surfer holds his board in the air with his hands. "I didn't do it for the photographers, I almost killed myself on the rocks," Vaast told AFP afterwards.
Now he's the Olympic champion! He relegated the Australian tube riding champion Jack Robinson to silver. The 22-year-old Vaast, who grew up in Teahupo'o and caught some of the best waves of all time on the perfect reef passage, quickly established his dominance and never relinquished it.
Caroline Marks wins the women's event
American world champion Caroline Marks took the gold medal in the women's event. Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb won silver and Johanne Defay from France bronze.
After Teahupo'o undoubtedly delivered the best day of the Olympic surfing competition last week, the waves on the morning of the final day failed to live up to expectations, with rare swells and treacherous winds. However, conditions improved as the day progressed and the men's finals were held in clean barrels at the "End of the Road", as Teahupo'o is also known.
Cheers on spectator boats
Vaast, sporting a mullet/Iroquois haircut from his younger brother, was the first to ride through a long, deep tube, scoring 9.5 out of 10. He drew cheers from the spectator boats in the canal and a small fan zone.
Robinson followed with a slightly smaller version, but came back out after the wave spewed a gush of water and air into the canal, scoring 7.83 points.
Gold favorite failed
Vaast managed another excellent score (8.17) for some sharp turns, giving him a near perfect score of 17.67 overall. Gold favorite Gabriel Medina from Brazil was defeated by Australia's Robinson in a semi-final in which he found too few usable waves.
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