On August 5, while Brazilian athlete Weston-Webb and Costa Rican athlete Hennessy competed in a women’s semifinal surfing match at the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, a whale breached in the distance, providing a picture-perfect sight.
According to the Associated Press and CBS News, in Tahiti—site of the Paris Games’ surfing competition and almost 10,000 miles away from the host city of Paris—whales gather around the islands during mating, birthing, and migration seasons. Tahiti also has several maritime protected zones.
Oh wow, a whale steals the show during the Olympic surfing.#Olympics #Tahiti pic.twitter.com/ZviUcSir7i
— Nick Metcalfe (@Nick_Metcalfe) August 6, 2024
Indigenous leaders in Tahiti were among those from several island nations who signed a treaty granting whales legal personhood earlier this year, a step aimed at pressuring governments to do more to protect them from threats like climate change and noise pollution.
Weston-Webb moved on to the finals later that day, facing off against American Caroline Marks. Marks, who finished fourth in Tokyo, ultimately brought home the gold for Team USA.
“To win the final, you had to get in the barrel, which is what you dream of when you surf Teahupo’o,” she said afterward, referring to the infamous wave. “Overall, I’m really happy. It was an amazing day.”
Weston-Webb took home silver, and France’s Johanne Defay clinched bronze.
GABRIEL MEDINA TAKES FLIGHT. ✈️🌊
Still in awe of this photo. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/kBzJRJZmpW
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 30, 2024
The whale breach wasn’t the only show-stopping moment in the surfing competition at the Games. A photo of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina appearing to float mid-air went viral on July 29 after photographer Jerome Brouillet from Agence France-Presse captured the moment.
Medina defeated the 2021 Tokyo surfing winner, Kanoa Igarashi, on the third day of the Games. With his almost-perfect score of 9.90, he marked the highest-scoring wave in Olympic history. The victory was accompanied by a legendary picture capturing the surfer with his pointer finger up as he floated mid-air, his surfboard in a perfect stance behind him.
The photo has garnered nearly 9 million likes on Medina’s Instagram alone. Photographer Brouillet shared on his Instagram that “Gabriel was in the water at the right place, at the right time, and so was I,” adding that his phone still “hasn’t stopped beeping.”