Teahupo’o Goes ‘Perfect,’ But Florence and Colapinto Eliminated, Deflating U.S. Olympic Hopes
There have been a lot of superlatives thrown around regarding the favorable conditions that have graced the opening days of Olympic surfing. The hyperbole easily flows off the tongue when watching the stunning nature in which the wave breaks at Teahupo’o. But when local Kauli Vaast says that this morning’s Teahupo’o was “perfect,” it carries extra weight. You can’t argue with that.
Everyone was surprised at just how big Teahupo’o was when the first rays of light shined on its mutant liquid walls. Peru’s Alonso Correa and American Griffin Colapinto both said they went scrambling back to their quivers to get bigger boards.
There are two sides to perfect Teahupo’o – the glory of a spitting tube and the pain of a heavy wipeout. Despite masterfully navigating the tubes, Gabriel Medina called the conditions “really dangerous.” Griffin Colapinto said it was “kind of scary” as he was duck diving set waves. Kanoa Igarashi said he had an “eye-opening” wipeout and Jack Robinson called it “the most dangerous place in the world” after getting dragged on the reef and almost receiving a two-wave hold-down.
Men’s round three at the 2024 Olympics was defined by broken boards, lagoon wash-throughs, 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 went excellent, led by Gabriel Medina’s event-leading 9.9.
USA’s men sailed through round one, seemingly primed to make a deep run in the event. But on day three they abruptly departed in the detonating Teahupo’o conditions. France’s Vaast defeated Colapinto, while Australia’s Robinson eliminated John John Florence.
Medina added another legendary performance to his already illustrious career, concretely solidifying himself as the surfer to beat for gold. He pulled into the best Teahupo’o pit of the day and exited the barrel with all 10 fingers held out on his hands. Two of the five judges agreed with Medina’s assessment, awarding him the perfect 10. The other three thought it was a tad shy of perfection, so Medina walked away with a 9.9, the best-scoring wave in the event thus far.
“I felt like that was a ten,” said Medina. “I’ve done a few tens before here. For sure that was a ten. The wave was so perfect. But I’m stoked to get a 9.9”
“I get comfortable when the waves are good,” he added. “I never imagined we could get waves like this in the Olympics.”
Medina said his elimination of Kanoa Igarashi was retribution for Tokyo 2020, where the roles were reversed in the semifinals.
“It’s good to get (Kanoa) back,” Medina concluded. “Today was my day, but he had his day in Tokyo.”
Medina’s teammate, Filipe Toledo, was eliminated with the day’s lowest heat total – just 2.46 points. The Olympics – or Toledo’s career in general as of late – have been an emotional rollercoaster ride for him. Just twelve hours earlier Filipe was riding on a cloud while celebrating a near-perfect 9.67 in round two. It seemed like he had rediscovered his mojo and was re-writing his narrative. But in the heavier surf of round three the high came crashing down. He struggled to find scores and couldn’t complete barrels, ultimately bested by the six-point total of Japan’s Reo Inaba.
Toledo skipped his mixed-zone interview duties, dodging the inevitable questions about his comfort in waves of consequence.
Ramzi Boukhiam’s and Joao Chianca’s heat six match-up turned into a full-on barrel shootout and the combined highest scoring heat of the day. Boukhiam’s 17.80 would have been good enough to win nearly every heat of the round, but he ran up against an in-form Chianca who barely ousted him with a 18.10 total.
Ramzi was emotional after his heat, (unnecessarily) apologizing to his country for the performance, but acknowledging that he tried his best.
“I am really upset because I know that I could have brought gold for Morocco in these waves,” said Boukhiam. “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 nearly drowned at Pipeline just seven months ago, I wondered how he was going to perform in his return to heavy waves. If he felt the nerves, he didn’t show it. When it seemed that Boukhiam had him cornered with a 9.7, Chianca pulled off a 8.8 tube that paired with his 9.3 to catapult him into the lead.
Despite having just lost, Boukhiam was happy for the performance of Chianca who he called one of his best friends.
“I am happy that (Joao) is alive and we are still (competing together),” Boukhiam concluded.
The outcome of Vaast and Colapinto’s heat is one of the few that left room for debate. Vaast nabbed 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 awarded a 7.77, higher than Colapinto’s 7.5 earned on a smaller wave, but a deeper barrel. Vaast’s 15.10 total of course won out over Colapinto’s 13.83.
When asked about his thoughts on the scores, Colapinto was careful to not make any definitive claims, but he did say he would go home and review the replays.
“In the past the judges have seemed to like the deeper barrel, driving through it, pumping, and coming out after the spit,” Colapinto explained. Colapinto also touched on the uphill battle of competing against the hometown hero.
“It’s difficult when you have the whole channel rooting for the other guy,” said Colapinto. “All the ski drivers, everyone, they all live here. They are super nice, but you see them signaling to the local guy a bunch, hooting for him. It makes it a little challenging, but it’s just part of the territory.”
The best heat total of the day was earned by Joan Duru, the only surfer who snagged two nines in the same heat. Duru’s 18.13 total eliminated the Mexican Alan Cleland. However, Duru will have his hands full as he’ll run into his countryman, Vaast, in the upcoming quarterfinals.
The all-compatriot quarterfinal is a theme on the men’s side of the draw. Similarly, Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Joao Chianca will match up. Australia’s Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson will also square off. The only men’s quarterfinal featuring two different countries will be the heat between Japan’s Reo Inaba and Peru’s Alonso Correa.
Women’s round three and the men’s and women’s quarterfinals remain to complete the event. The 24 heats left require at least another 12 hours, or a day and a half of competition. The forecast is calling for ferocious onshore winds the next two days during the peak of the current swell, but there could be a window on Thursday, August 1 as the swell backs off and the wind becomes lighter. The last four days of the window, August 2-5, call for lighter winds and small to medium-sized swell.
When I asked Tahitian charger Michel Bourez how he would proceed if the decision were up to him, he said he would wait until the final day of the window, August 5, to finish the event.
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