Defending Olympic women’s surfing champion Clarissa Moore from the United States lost in the quarterfinals at the Paris Games on Thursday, as the competition resumed in Tahiti after a two-day delay due to poor conditions.
Moore, who won the first gold medal in surfing at the 2020 Olympics and is a five-time world champion, was eliminated by Johanne Defay from France. She was emotional after the loss, saying, “When you come up short of a dream it sucks.”
Moore had taken time away from surfing this year to focus on her nonprofit organization that supports young women and to start a family. She expressed that finishing her career in such a place was meaningful and said she plans to take a break.
The day began with the third-round heats for women, which had been postponed twice. The waves were smaller and there was some wind, making conditions less ideal compared to the men’s competition on Monday. Despite this, the athletes tried to make the most of the challenging conditions.
French Polynesian Vahine Fierro, who lost to Defay, commented on the difficulty of finding good waves. “I was ready to do maneuvers, to do tubes. But it was quite complicated on the water,” she said.
Swells throughout the day were steady but lacked the large barrels seen earlier. Brazil’s Gabriel Medina described the conditions as very tricky, calling it a “survival day” after winning against his teammate Joao Chianca.
Throughout the day, surfers from Australia, Brazil, and France often faced off against each other in the heat.
“It sucks to have another teammate in the heat. This is the hardest part,” said French Polynesian surfer Kauli Vaast, who won against teammate Joan Duru in their quarterfinal heat. “But… this is competition.”
Earlier, it was revealed that a surfing judge was removed from the Olympic panel after a photo showed him hugging a competitor on the shore this week.
The International Surfing Association announced on Thursday that Benjamin Lowe from Australia was removed from the judging panel for the rest of the competition to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition.”
Australia’s team management declined to comment on the situation. The next day of competition, which is yet to be scheduled, will determine which surfers will win medals at the Paris Olympics.
Each heat will have two surfers, with the winner moving on to the semifinals and then to the gold medal heat. The two losers from the semifinals will compete in the bronze medal match.
Friday’s competition was postponed due to poor conditions. Conditions may improve slightly over the weekend, but the surf is still predicted to be slow according to Surfline.
The surf forecast is crucial for scheduling the competition, as it predicts the arrival, angle, and size of the swells. The surfing events need to be completed by August 5, so organizers will choose the best days based on the forecast.
Alonso Correa of Peru, Kauli Vaast, Gabriel Medina from Brazil, and Jack Robinson from Australia won their quarterfinal heats and moved on to the semifinals.
In the women’s quarterfinals, Caroline Marks from the U.S., Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil, and Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica won their heats to join Johanne Defay in the semifinals.
