“I never thought we could get waves like this during the Olympics.” Yeah, neither do we. Photo: ISA

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Many superlatives have been circulated about the favorable conditions that have graced the opening days of Olympic surfing. Hyperbole rolls easily off the tongue when you see the stunning scenery in which the wave breaks at Teahupo’o. But when local Kauli Vaast says that this morning’s Teahupo’o was “perfect,” that carries extra weight. You can’t argue with that.

Everyone was surprised at how big Teahupo’o was when the first rays of light hit the mutated liquid walls. Peruvian Alonso Correa and American Griffin Colapinto both said they were going back to their quivers to get bigger boards.

There are two sides to perfecting Teahupo’o: the glory of a spitting tube and the pain of a heavy wipeout. Despite his masterful tube crew, Gabriel Medina called the conditions “really dangerous.” Griffin Colapinto said it was “a little scary” when he duck dived set waves. Kanoa Igarashi said he had an “eye-opening” wipeout, and Jack Robinson called it “the most dangerous spot in the world” after being dragged onto the reef and nearly getting a two-wave holddown.

The men’s third round at the 2024 Olympics was marked by broken boards, flushed lagoons, crushing wipeouts and more claims than I can count. The judges had no choice but to cough up the eights and nines. Thirteen wave scores were excellent, led by Gabriel Medina’s event-leading 9.9.

The US men sailed through the first round seemingly set to make a deep run at the event. But on day three they took an abrupt turn in the jarring Teahupo’o conditions. Frenchman Vaast defeated Colapinto, while Australian Robinson edged out John John Florence.

Medina added another legendary performance to his already illustrious career, solidifying himself as the surfer to beat gold. He pulled into the best Teahupo’o pit of the day and left the barrel with all 10 fingers on his hands. Two of the five judges agreed with Medina’s assessment and gave him a perfect 10. The other three felt it was a little short of perfect, so Medina walked away with a 9.9, the highest-scoring wave in the event to date.

“I thought that was a 10,” Medina said. “I’ve done a 10 here a few times. This was definitely a 10. The wave was so perfect. But I’m happy I got a 9.9.”

“I get comfortable when the waves are good,” he added. “I never thought we could have waves like that at the Olympics.”

Could Jack’s win today herald a Final 5 showdown between Robinson and Florence for a world title? Don’t bet on it. Photo: ISA

Medina said his elimination of Kanoa Igarashi was revenge for Tokyo 2020, where the tables were turned in the semi-finals.

“It’s good to have (Kanoa) back,” Medina concluded. “Today was my day, but he had his day in Tokyo.”

Medina’s teammate Filipe Toledo was eliminated with the lowest heat total of the day – just 2.46 points. The Olympics – or Toledo’s career in general – have been an emotional rollercoaster ride for him. Just 12 hours earlier, Filipe was riding on a cloud as he posted a near-perfect 9.67 in round two. It seemed he had rediscovered his mojo and was rewriting his story. But in the tougher waves of round three, the high came crashing down. He struggled to find scores and couldn’t finish any barrels, eventually being beaten by Japan’s Reo Inaba’s six points.

Toledo skipped his mixed job interviews and dodged the inevitable questions about his comfort in waves of consequences.

The heat six match-up of Ramzi Boukhiam and Joao Chianca was a full-on barrel shootout and the highest scoring combined heat of the day. Boukhiam’s 17.80 would have been good enough to win almost any heat of the round, but he ran into an in-form Chianca who narrowly edged him out with an 18.10 total.

Ramzi was emotional after his heat and (falsely) apologised to his country for his performance, but acknowledged that he had done his best.

“I’m really upset because I know I could have brought gold for Morocco in those waves,” Boukhiam said. “It was possible because I love this sh*t. I love this place. Even though I lost, I think that heat is going to be one of the best of my life.”

After Chianca almost drowned at Pipeline just seven months ago, I wondered how he would perform on his return to big waves. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it. When it looked like Boukhiam had him cornered with a 9.7, Chianca pulled off an 8.8 tube that, along with his 9.3, catapulted him into the lead.

Despite having just lost, Boukhiam was happy with the performance of Chianca, whom he called one of his best friends.

“I’m happy that (Joao) is still alive and that we are still (fighting together),” Boukhiam concluded.

The outcome of Vaast and Colapinto’s heat is one of the few that left room for discussion. Vaast took the heaviest and biggest Teahupo’o tube of the heat, but he didn’t get far behind the curtain; he never completely disappeared from view. That wave was rewarded with a 7.77, higher than Colapinto’s 7.5 which he earned on a smaller wave, but a deeper barrel. Vaast’s 15.10 total of course won out over Colapinto’s 13.83.

Yes Joao, we were thankful that Teahupo’o looked like this today too. Photo: ISA

When asked what he thought of the scores, Colapinto declined to make any definitive statements, but said he would watch replays at home.

“In the past, the judges seemed to favor the deeper run, driving through, pumping and spitting out,” Colapinto explained. Colapinto also talked about the tough battle he has to fight against the local hero.

“It’s tough when you have the whole channel for the other guy,” Colapinto said. “All the skiers, everybody, they all live here. They’re super nice, but you see them sending a lot of signals to the local guy, cheering him on. It makes it a little bit challenging, but it’s just part of it.”

The best heat total of the day was achieved by Joan Duru, the only surfer to score two nines in the same heat. Duru’s 18.13 total eliminated Mexican Alan Cleland. Duru will have his hands full though, as he will face fellow countryman Vaast in the upcoming quarterfinals.

The quarterfinal with only compatriots is a theme in the men. Also the Brazilian Gabriel Medina and Joao Chianca will compete against each other. The Australians Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson will also compete against each other. The only quarterfinal in the men with two different countries is the heat between the Japanese Reo Inaba and the Peruvian Alonso Correa.

The women’s third round and the men’s and women’s quarterfinals have yet to be completed. The remaining 24 heats will require at least 12 hours, or a day and a half, of competition. The forecast calls for strong onshore winds over the next two days during the peak of the current swell, but there could be a window on Thursday, August 1, when the swell subsides and the winds become lighter. The last four days of the window, August 2-5, are forecast for lighter winds and small to medium swells.

When I asked Tahitian boxer Michel Bourez how he would act if he were to make the decision, he said he would wait until the last day of the transfer window, August 5, to finalize the event.

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