Paris Olympics: Image of surfer Gabriel Medina apparently defying gravity during competition in Tahiti goes viral

It was a celebration worthy of the ages – or at the least viral fame.

Surfer Gabriel Medina was taking up Kanoa Igarashi, the person who beat him on the Tokyo Olympics and finally gained silver, and he was seeking to flip the tide this time round.

The Brazilian not solely managed to take down the Japanese surfer, he did so partially because of a near-perfect 9.90-scoring wave on Day 3 of the browsing competitors in Tahiti – collaborating midway all over the world from Paris. It was the highest-scoring wave in Olympic historical past.

The resultant jubilation produced one other second of perfection: Medina leapt from his surfboard, raised his finger aloft and his board simply managed to fly parallel to him as photographer Jerome Brouillet from Agence France-Presse snapped the shot.

“The situations had been excellent, the waves had been taller than we anticipated,” Brouillet instructed The Guardian. “So he (Medina) is in the back of the wave and I am unable to see him after which he pops up and I took 4 photos and one in every of them was this one.

“It was not exhausting to take the image. It was extra about anticipating the second and the place Gabriel will kick off the wave.”

Brouillet added: “I used to be simply checking my telephone on the six-minute break after the shoot and I had plenty of notifications on social media and I assumed one thing is occurring with this shot and it was shared on ESPN and I assumed: ‘Cool.'”

“It’s totally cool, it is a good shot and many folks adore it. It is not likely a surf {photograph} so it captures the eye of extra folks.”

The exceptional image has unfold throughout social media with Brazilians celebrating their surfer’s progress into the ultimate eight of the competitors, together with Actual Madrid and Seleão ahead Rodrygo.

When Medina posted the image to his Instagram web page, amidst all of the reward from astounded Brazilians and the greater than 4 million likes, Igarashi commented: “Rattling he did not even go away one for us hahahaha (laughing so I do not cry).”

Nonetheless, whereas Medina has made it one step nearer towards his aim of an Olympic medal, he definitely felt that the judges may have been extra thoughtful of his efforts.

“I felt prefer it was a ten,” the three-time WSL world champion mentioned after his spherical. “I’ve completed a couple of 10s earlier than and I used to be like, ‘For certain, that is a ten.’ The wave was so excellent.”

Nonetheless, whereas the efficiency on the water may not have been a ten out of 10, the image was definitely the picture of perfection.