Emotions run high at Teahupo’o as big names fall in Olympic surfing competition
The biggest cheers came after the biggest losses at Teahupo’o on today, August 1, as hot favourites were eliminated from the Paris 2024 surfing competition.
Local star Vahine Fierro lost to her French teammate Johanne Defay in round three and was understandably grappling with her loss shortly after her Olympic dream ended.
“I came out of the water and was crying because obviously it’s hard to lose the Olympics at home,” The 24-year-old French Polynesian said to Olympics.com.
“Everybody still applauded and were cheering me on and that warmed my heart a lot. I know that this is not the result I wanted but nothing has ever been given to me on a golden platter, so I know that I have to work even harder and that’s going to make me grow and be a better human and better athlete for the next Olympics,” Fierro added through tears.
She wasn’t the only star to have their Olympic dreams dashed at the hands of Defay.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Carissa Moore will not be able to defend her title after also succumbing to the French 30-year-old. A tough blow for two very good friends.
Moore announced in January that she would step away from competitive surfing after Paris 2024 and begin the next chapter of her life. She did not mention the word retirement then – and she did not again today.
“Obviously, I wanted it so bad, I put everything I had into it and this year and at least I can hold my head up high and be proud of that. It’s definitely a letdown and a little bit of a frustration to not be able to showcase what I think I’ve really worked on this year but regardless I’ve had a great time. It will probably take a little while to process, but at the same time there are so many other things to look forward to and be grateful for,” an emotional Moore told Olympics.com
“I’ve always wanted to be that person that, no matter what, the result doesn’t define me. It doesn’t define the work that I’ve put in and it doesn’t define me as a surfer. I hope that despite the result I was able to bring joy through this experience to everyone watching and inspire other people to chase their dreams fearlessly and don’t let the fear of failure keep you from going hard and going all in. I went all in, and it didn’t work out but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” – Carissa Moore
“With my last wave, if I could have just held on in some way to that barrel I could have won the heat but yeah it's hindsight right now and I don’t want to beat myself up over it,” Moore said.
After speaking with media, Moore received a huge applause. A moment for a true surfing legend who has given the sport so much.
The women's surfing pioneer had to walk past the podium rehearsals. A podium she was on just three years ago in Japan. A place she wanted to be on, and sacrificed so much for.
Nation vs Nation
There were several other bittersweet matchups where fellow countrymen and women faced off and knocked out each other. Defay and Fierro’s clash was the start of five national battles.
Brazil's Luana Silva outscored Taina Hinckel in their third-round meeting, but Silva bowed out in the quarter-finals after a tight contest with Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy. The 20-year-old was proud and distraught at not making it into the semis.
“I have a lot of emotions right now. I wish I could have gone further and represented my country even further and hoped for a medal even,” said Silva.
Jack Robinson eliminated his fellow Aussie Ethan Ewing, who overcame huge hurdles to get to the Olympics after breaking his back on this exact wave in August of 2023.
“In the moment it feels like the end of the world but it’s not and in a few days I’m sure I will get over it. It’s good to feel these things because it makes the highs even better, I’m sure I’ll bounce back in a few days and move onto the next objective,” Ewing said.
Local hero Kauli Vaast got the edge over his French comrade Joan Duru. The young French Polynesian has been proving why he’s a real medal threat with his versatility in all conditions at his local wave, Teahupo’o.
“I did everything I could, everything went well, I got two waves, he just did better today, and he’s the best out here,” Duru said.
Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina was also ruthless against his Brazilian teammate Joao Chianca and ended his Paris 2024 journey with a 14.77 total score vs Chianca’s 9.33.
After a near-death experience in December, Chianca showed perspective and maturity in exiting the Olympics, knowing life itself is precious and not a given.
“I don’t know how to talk about this year because there’s been so many up and downs and tricky conditions and tricky situations and just hard to deal with and a hard year to navigate through a lot of emotions, a lot of comebacks, a lot of events. I feel every opportunity that I had this year, it was a form or a type of comeback to myself, and definitely the Olympics was another type of comeback. The biggest we can call it, I’m happy to be alive and to be healthy and represent my country and with happiness and dignity.
“I love Brazil so much, I love what I do, the time off showed me how much I love competitive surfing,” the Brazilian told Olympics.com.