Kauai’s Tatiana Weston-Webb settled for a silver medal in women’s surfing after losing to Caroline Marks of the United States in a dramatic final heat this afternoon in the Paris Olympics at Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Weston-Webb, surfing for Brazil where she was born, needed a wave of 4.68 points when she caught one in the final two minutes that she took all the way into the reef before finally giving up.
She couldn’t quite barrel the wave but managed to make a few turns, allowing the judges to give her the win. The horn sounded to end the heat before the score was announced.
Weston-Webb was eventually given a 4.50 for her final wave resulting in a total score of 10.33, falling .17 points short of Marks, who finished with a 10.50.
Marks gave the United States a gold medal winner for the second straight Olympics after Punahou alumna Carissa Moore won the inaugural surfing event held in Tokyo.
France’s Kauli Vaast gave the host country gold in the men’s surfing contest beating Australia’s Jack Robinson 17.67 to 7.83 in the final.
Robinson, who eliminated Haleiwa’s John John Florence in the third round, earned silver. Brazil’s Gabriel Medina won bronze.
Previously
Kauai’s Tatiana Weston-Webb surfed her way into the final of the women’s surfing event knocking out Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy in the semifinals today in the Paris Olympics at Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Weston-Webb took advantage of an interference penalty called on Hennessy to advance to face Caroline Marks of the United States in the gold medal final scheduled for 2:57 p.m. later today.
Marks advanced after defeating France’s Johanne Defay. The two surfers finished with an identical 12.17 score, but Marks moved on to the gold medal final because she had the highest individual scoring wave.
Weston-Webb knocked out Hennessy, who moved to Oahu when she was 9 years old, by a score of 13.66 to 6.17. Only one wave counted toward Hennessy’s total score because she was whistled for interference when she caught a wave in front of Weston-Webb, who held priority.
Weston-Webb scored a 5.30 on a wave with 10 minutes remaining in the heat to push her total score over 10, effectively ending the heat since Hennessy couldn’t catch her with one wave. She then scored the highest wave score of the day with an 8.33.
Defay, who eliminated Carissa Moore in the quarterfinals, ended up with the bronze, defeating Hennessy 12.66 to 4.93.