USA's Caroline Marks caps 'amazing day' with  Olympic gold

Caroline Marks continued the USA's "golden tradition" when it comes to women's surfing, capturing the gold medal on Monday, 5 August at Teahupo'o, on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, as the surfing competition wrapped up at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The narrow win in the women's final over Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil marked the second straight Olympic gold in that category for American surfers, after Carissa Moore's gold at Tokyo 2020.

The 22-year-old Marks finished with a 10.50 and Weston-Webb a 10.33, a mere 0.17 points separating gold from silver.

Earlier, France’s Johanne Defay won the bronze-medal match over Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica with a score of 12.66, one of two Olympic surfing medals to be won by the host nation on Monday, as compatriot Kauli Vaast won men's gold.

"To win the final, you had to get in the barrel, which is what you dream of when you surf Teahupo’o. Overall, (I'm) really happy. It was an amazing day," said Marks.

The women’s final started slowly, with Marks and Weston-Webb waiting patiently for Mother Nature to send good waves. Ten minutes into the 30-minute heat, neither surfer had posted a wave above 1.0. And then Marks made the drop on a solid set wave, faded her bottom turn and pulled up and into a pristine barrel. It wasn't the deepest or the longest barrel of the day, but it was clean, and Marks came out flawlessly to earn a 7.50. Weston-Webb answered with a tube of her own, albeit on a smaller wave, riding it straight into strong rail turns. The result was a 5.83.

The plot thickened as Marks failed to find a big second score, racking up a 3.00, which she hoped to improve on. In the closing minutes, she dropped into another big barrel, only to get clipped by the lip and wiping out, which left the door open for Weston-Webb in the final 90 seconds.

A small wave presented itself, and Weston-Webb took off, needing only a 4.68 to win gold. She used her rail game to tear the wave up, gouging multiple turns and finishing just as the horn blew. The judge's score came in and it was Marks throwing her hands in the air to celebrate.

Back on the beach, Marks, who had finished in fourth at Tokyo 2020, was a vision of pure joy, telling Olympics.com: “I’m so honored and so happy, this is just incredible and I’m so emotional.

"I’m so happy to do this for my family and everyone back home. Wow, I’m just so happy.”

Weston-Webb shared Marks' joy. "It means a lot; I’ve worked really hard for this," said Weston-Webb. "Been a dream for a long time, and to do it on a wave I love is even more of an honor. I feel blessed to be here."

In the bronze-medal contest held earlier, Defay used the same formula that got her to the finals, destroying section after section of wave with powerful, near-vertical backside whacks. She also found the heat's only real barrel, pulling into one of the biggest set waves to roll through the lineup all day. Her crisp, top-to-bottom approach was fast, fluid and ultimately a medal winner against Costa Rica’s Hennessy, who finished her Olympic bid in fourth with a 4.93.

“I thought before the competition that I would represent my country well,” Defay said afterwards. “It means a lot for me. I knew this competition in Tahiti would be very hard and difficult, a big fight. It means a lot of sacrifice. I’m really, really happy with this medal.”

Surfing: Women’s podium

Gold Caroline Marks (USA)
Silver Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
Bronze Johanne Defay (FRA)

See all the results on Olympics.com