Watch surfer Gabriel Medina’s historic Olympic ride, epic celebration – NBC New York
Gabriel Medina rode a wave to history on Monday.
The 30-year-old Brazilian surfer recorded the best single-wave score in Olympic history during the third round of the men’s surfing event in the 2024 Paris Games.
On his second wave, Medina nearly posted a perfect score with a 9.90 in waters off the coast of Teahupo’o, Tahiti. And following his near-perfect ride, Medina celebrated by holding up one finger as he soared through the air.
The celebration led to possibly the best image of the 2024 Games so far, courtesy of Agence France Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet.
JEROME BROUILLET/AFP via Getty Images
Medina, a three-time world champion, advanced to the quarterfinals with a total score of 17.40. He’s now slated to face the only other remaining Brazilian in the field in João Chianca, who tallied 18.10 points in Round 3.
Medina and Chianca are both looking to deliver Brazil a second straight gold after Italo Ferreira made the top of the podium in the sport’s Olympic debut at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games. Medina came up just shy of of the podium in the Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth.
The surfing quarterfinals, along with the rest of the knockout rounds, were slated for Tuesday before being postponed due to weather. The event hasn’t yet been rescheduled.
Strong winds have postponed men’s and women’s Olympic surfing events in Tahiti.
