Caroline Marks Wins Women’s Olympic Surfing Gold Medal

After multiple lay days, due to mediocre conditions, competition for surfing in the Paris 2024 Olympics at Teahupo’o, Tahiti finally resumed on the last and final day of the event window for the medal-crowning finale. This was it; the last shot; the big day.

Sadly, around 10:30am local time, the incoming swell had yet to fill in. Petite waves, yet clean conditions, were seen in the lineup at the start of the day. SURFER photographer, Ryan “Chachi” Craig reported from the channel: “It’s really small. I’ve yet to even see a rideable wave.”

Alas, the show must go on.

Semifinals

On the women’s side of the event, the Semifinals kicked off with Caroline Marks (USA) taking on Johanne Defay (France), followed by Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil) facing Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica). In the first matchup, with 10 minutes on the clock and trailing behind Defay, Marks pulled into the one-and-only tube of the heat. The score? A 7.00. That made the combined totals equal for both competitors – 12.17 – but because of Marks’ higher score, she took the win.

In the second Semifinal clash, about midway through the heat, Hennessy made an unfortunate error. Under priority, she dropped in on Weston-Webb, which earned her an interference, thus, her second wave score was nullified. From then on, Weston-Webb had the heat in the bag. Tati had Brisa in an inescapable stranglehold with a 13.66 heat total; no way out for the Costa Rican.

Related: Kauli Vaast Wins Men’s Olympic Surfing Gold Medal

Bronze Medal Matchup

Similar to the men’s side, the crowd favorite in the Bronze medal matchup was clear: Team France (by way of Reunion Island) and Johanne Defay. Brisa Hennessy, who has shown some serious strength in backside tube-riding recently, never found her rhythm. Johanne, however, stuck to her gameplan – with not many tubes on offer, crack the lip. And it paid off for her.

“I feel pretty amazing,” Johanne said. “That heat, obviously, was pretty hard because one of us wasn’t going to get a medal. That was the most stressful day. I don’t think we could’ve done much more out there [besides turns], because it’s very small. Not many barrels. So, the strategy was to stick to turns and get a lot of waves. It’s a lot to take in. I’m a bit out of words. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to acknowledge all the surfers who worked so hard for this.”

Gold Medal Matchup

For the Final heat, on the Final Day, of surfing in the Paris 2024 Olympics at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, Caroline Marks matched up against Tatiana Weston-Webb. Two goofy-footers. Two skilled tube-riders. Two hungry competitors at the top of their game, competing for surfing’s biggest prize.

Unlike the men’s Final, this was a close one. In fact, after Tatiana caught a wave in the dying seconds of the heat, both competitors (and the fans on the beach) were wondering who won. However, Tati’s last wave (a 4.50) wasn’t enough to take down Marks. Thus, USA took gold.

“I’ve worked really hard for this,” said Tati. “To do it out at a wave that I love is an honor. I got close to the Gold, but sometimes things don’t go my way, and I still feel blessed to be here. It was a close one. I did everything I could. It came down to the last wave. It’s a huge honor to put Brazilian surfing on the map. I’m really good at getting second. [Laughs.] But you know what they say…first is the worst, second is the best. [Laughs.] Just kidding. It’s an honor, truly.”

And Caroline, the big winner:

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” she said. “I’m just trying to soak it all in, because it’s probably the best day of my life. For a moment there, we weren’t sure who won. They took a minute to process the score. And when they announced it, I burst into tears. Just super emotional. Your whole life goes into a moment like this, so it’s just super special. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”

Final results: