Stunning Olympic surfing photo

July 31, 2024 9:58 AM

Gabriel Medina's post-run celebration. The story, from NPR. Video of the ride.

Olympics and Tahiti, previously

posted by Gorgik (20 comments total)

I'm only half watching the highlights with one eye, but there have been some truly spectacular moments in this Olympics. that wave is terrifying!
posted by supermedusa at 10:16 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]

That is an amazing photo which I totally thought was fake. It does seem like he risked getting beaned by the board!
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:42 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]

When I first saw this pic circulating, I thought it was an artists interpretation of someone walking through an interdimensional gateway, connected by some sort of umbilical.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 10:48 AM on July 31

The question is...how will it be repurposed into a meme? Since that's what I thought it might be when I first saw it. Out of the loop comes full-circle.

Great pic, one in a million!
posted by rhizome at 10:53 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]

The uploader has not made this video available in your country

typical -- this is probably better anyway

Biggest Teahupoo ever,
posted by philip-random at 11:03 AM on July 31 [5 favorites]

That picture is what Hendrix was singing about with "excuse me while I kiss the sky".

That said, the other indelible image from the surfing event is the poor surfer who wiped out so hard he wound up ass over kettle on the world stage. Ouch.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:03 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]

What an incredible photo. I'd seen it in passing but didn't know the story and also assumed it was in some way altered. I love athletic joy!
posted by obfuscation at 11:17 AM on July 31

Earlier in the clip, it's amazing to see the huge wave form.
posted by theora55 at 11:21 AM on July 31

the poor surfer who wiped out so hard he wound up ass over kettle on the world stage

Historical precedent, from Art But Make It Sports.
posted by The Bellman at 11:22 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]

AI could not "imagine" this image.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 11:36 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]

Goddamit, Jesus, stop showing off.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:46 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]

Doesn't turning off the gravity count as cheating?
posted by Foosnark at 11:59 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]

So, I haven’t been able to find a video eg. on YouTube that I can watch in slow mo to catch the moment depicted in the photo. Any links?
posted by eviemath at 12:42 PM on July 31

(It might be the video link in the fpp, but that’s region blocked for me.)
posted by eviemath at 12:44 PM on July 31

Don't know if you can get videos on the CBC, but here is theirs.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:13 PM on July 31 [2 favorites]

Amazing. I went to Teahupo‘o four or five years ago and the shear *mass* of the wall of water that crashes over the top of that reef is almost impossible to describe. Also, it breaks in *barely* waist-high water!

(incidentally, one of my favorite trip "souvenirs" was found here: an old rusty pétanque ball (boule?) bobbing at the edge of the lagoon)
posted by deadbilly at 3:00 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]

Medina’s superpower is showboating so this should come as no surprise. Missing Ferreira in the competition this year. Brazilian surfing - what a powerhouse.
posted by q*ben at 4:25 PM on July 31

I don't know anything about surfing but the book Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan is insanely great and won a Pulitzer Prize.
posted by neuron at 2:51 PM on August 1 [2 favorites]

Mod note: This post is part of the Olympics roundup in the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:46 AM on August 2

the poor surfer who wiped out so hard he wound up ass over kettle on the world stage

The next time someone updates "the agony of defeat" clipreel.
posted by cheshyre at 11:02 AM on August 2