The story behind that viral Olympics surfing photo

The Paris Olympics are only just getting underway, but one of the iconic images of the tournament is already here – and it involves a surfboard, a wave, and one of the coolest looking guys we’ve ever seen.

That guy is Brazil’s Gabriel Medina, who scored an incredible 9.9 out of a possible 10 on Monday (July 29).

After pulling off the incredible score at the Teahupo’o break in French Polynesia, he took off out of the water, towards the skies looking almost messianic above the waves.

The 30-year-old was going up against Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi in the fifth heat of the men's round three surfing, when he pulled off the near-perfect score.

After riding the wave, he jumped upwards, leaving his board suspended in the air behind him, with his arm pointed upwards.

The stunning picture was taken by photographer Jerome Brouillet of AFP (Agence France-Presse), and it seems destined to be one of the most enduring images from the Olympic games this year.

The picture was so striking, in fact, that some social media users assumed it was fake, or had been photoshopped – but it was just an example of a perfect image captured at the perfect time.

Getty Images

Speaking to the Guardian, photographer Brouillet said: “[Medina] is at the back of the wave and I can’t see him, and then he pops up, and I took four pictures and one of them was this one.

“It was not hard to take the picture. It was more about anticipating the moment and where Gabriel will kick off the wave.”

Brouillet was on a boat when the moment happened, and he managed to capture the moment with a steady hand – despite the fact the waves on the day surpassed the levels Medina anticipated.

Medina said: “I never imagined we could get waves like this in the Olympics. I’m comfortable when the waves are good and as long as it’s like this, it’s good for everyone... Today was a good day for sure.”

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings