On a remote reef 10,000 miles from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina gave the Olympic crowd one of the most memorable images yet. The aerial celebration was so well-organized, it seemed too good to be true.

The Brazilian caught a roaring wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday. He came out of a barreling section, shot into the air and seemed to land on a Pacific cloud. He pointed to the sky with biblical calm, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard.

The photo was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were higher than we expected.” He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that some initially suspected Photoshop or AI.

“So he (Medina) is at the back of the gulf and I can’t see him. And then he shows up and I took four pictures, one of which is this one,” Brouillet said.

“It wasn’t hard to get the shot. It was more about anticipating the moment and where Gabriel will start the wave.”

But Brouillet had knowledge and experience on his side: he saw one of the best waves of the day coming up and knew that Medina often has these kinds of parties at the end of the wave.

When the footage was automatically sent from the camera to his editors, the reaction came quickly and Brouillet admits he was “a little shocked” by it. “I checked my phone during the six-minute break after the shoot and I had a lot of notifications on social media and I thought something happened with this shot and it got shared on ESPN and I thought, ‘Cool.'”

“It’s very cool, it’s a beautiful photo and a lot of people love it. It’s not really a surf photo, so it gets more people’s attention.”

Medina, a three-time world champion, had requested a perfect wave score of 10 as he prepared to sail up, but had to settle for 9.9, the best score of the Olympics so far. In an Instagram post later, the Christian surfer passed on the praise, quoting Paul from Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

For photographers, the aesthetic appeal lay in the deceptive appearance. Medina appears to be standing on solid ground, his leg rope suspiciously horizontal, his board perfectly mimicking his stance.

Praise was also heaped on Brouillet’s perfect timing, which required a fast shutter speed to capture a clear image on a moving ship in choppy seas.

Brouillet liked the memorable image, but whether it had lasting appeal he leaves to others to decide.

“I took the picture of the day, I was on the boat with six talented photographers and everyone will definitely forget it next week. Tomorrow will be no different.”

Medina was in the third round when the wave came and helped him easily defeat Kanoa Igarashi with a combined score of 17.40 out of 20 over two waves, taking revenge for his loss to the Japanese surfer at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Medina will face fellow Australian Joao Chianco in the quarterfinals.

The striking image will boost surfing’s profile at the Olympic Games, which will host the sport for the second time following its inaugural edition in 2021.