Kauli Vaast has won gold in the men’s surfing competition in his native Tahiti, on the famed Teahupo’o waves. Along with Johanne Defay’s bronze in the women’s final, the surfers won France’s first ever medals in the discipline that was introduced to the Olympics three years ago in Tokyo.
Winning on the wave he grew up surfing was "the cherry on the cake", said Vaast, who grew up in Teahupo’o. "For all of France, for all of Polynesia it's incredible."
He won gold on Monday after taking the two best waves of a high-level match, beating Australian Jack Robinson.
In the women’s final, France's Johanne Defay took bronze, while the United States' Caroline Marks claimed gold in a thrilling final that went down to the wire.
Vaast took the lead against Robinson from the start, scoring a near-perfect 9.50 on his first wave, and earning a total of 17.67 against Australia’s Jack Robinson , who conceded in the final moments with 7.83, for silver.
Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil took bronze.
"The mana was with me today," said Vaast after the win, referring to a supernatural force in Polynesian culture.
"From the beginning, every day I felt it, it was there."
Vaast said he was unsure whether he would make it to Paris, some 15,000 kilometres away, to celebrate his win, especially as he has a competition in California on Monday.
For the women, Johanne Defay took the women's bronze, scoring 12.66 to Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy's 4.93.
A native of Auvergne in central France, she has been surfing since she was very young on beaches in Reunion Island, where she lives today.
World champion Marks won gold just 0.17 ahead of Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb in an evenly-matched final that was only decided in the final few minutes.
(with newswires)
