Is there a gold medal for levitating? Gravity-defying Olympic photograph goes viral

A gravity-defying photograph of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina at the Olympics has gone viral.

Medina, 30, wowed crowds with an incredible performance on Tahiti’s Teahupo’o wave – which roughly translates as “Wall of Skulls” – against Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi in the fifth heat of the third round.

Brazil’s Gabriel Medina reacts after riding a large wave in the men’s surfing heats at the 2024 Olympic Games.Credit: Jerome BROUILLET/AFP

In the opening run, both Medina and Igarashi both caught smaller waves. Then, in the ride of the day, Medina caught his second run on a giant set wave.

When he popped out of the barrel, Medina held up both his hands to the judges, signalling he thought he should get a perfect 10. Two of the five judges gave him a perfect score, and his final result for the ride was a 9.9 — one of the best of the day.

He then rode over the back of the wave, and pointed his finger at the sky, seemingly to say he (or Brazil) is No. 1.

The moment was captured in an iconic picture by Jerome Brouillet from AFP.

Australia’s Jack Robinson exiting a wave during round three of surfing.Credit: Getty Images

Meanwhile, Australian surfers Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing both advanced, setting up an All-Australian quarter-final.

Robinson beat world No.1 John John Florence, sending home the Olympic surfing competition.

A storm system south of French Polynesia, which is hosting surfing for this year’s Olympics, made for terrifying action in Teahupo’o and forced the women’s heats to be abandoned on Tuesday (AEST).

The wildness elevated the blockbuster Robinson-Florence heat between the World Surf League’s number one and three-ranked surfers.

In noticeably bigger surf than previous days, neither was able to put a meaningful score on the board in the first half of their 30-minute heat.

Chasing a wave, Robinson and Florence both disappeared into the wash and required rescuing from jetskis within seconds of each other.

Returning to the fray after being towed through the lagoon and back past the Pacific Ocean waves, Robinson recovered best.

The 26-year-old stood tall after dicing with the reef, plunging into a barrel to score 7.17 in a decisive ride.

A second score took the Western Australian out of reach of Florence, the two-time world champion, eventually winning 13.94 against the Hawaiian’s 9.07.

″⁣It’s crazy. There are some huge waves out there,″⁣ Robinson said.

″⁣We didn’t get an easy start of the heat. I got dragged over the bottom and almost had a two-wave hold down.

″⁣It was one of those heats, you just have to have a lot of spirit and just keep pushing through.

French Polynesia is hosting surfing for this year’s Olympics.Credit: AP

″⁣It’s super dangerous. People don’t realise it’s the most dangerous place in the world in there, so just really happy to be in one piece.″⁣

Florence said he was flummoxed by the draw that allowed two of the world’s top three in-form surfers to meet so early in the tournament.

″⁣It sucks to come up against Jack this early on. One of us had to win and one of us had to lose. It’s hard,″⁣ he said.

The result was a repeat of the Robinson’s win from April’s Margaret River Pro final.

Shortly after Robinson’s progression, Ewing joined him in the last eight by defeating Australian-born Connor O’Leary, representing Japan.

Their heat resembled a battle to survive in the barrels, with both men taking all manner of tumbles, including one cringe-inducing face plant by O’Leary.

″⁣I had some wipeouts but stoked it paid off ... I have so much water in my head right now. It feels good to be back on the land now,″⁣ Ewing said.

Australia’s Ethan Ewing celebrates at the end of the 8th heat.Credit: Getty Images

Wave selection was paramount and Ewing did best: scoring an 8.67 with a deep run to defeat O’Leary 14.17 to 11.00.

The All-Aussie quarter-final means both men cannot medal in the surfing but at least one will play off in the last four.

″⁣It’ll be cool,” Ewing said of the match-up.

“He (Robinson) is definitely pushing the limits and is one of the best guys out here, and that’s where I want to be. So it will be exciting for sure.”

Earlier, Joao Chianca triumphed in one of the greatest heats in the two Olympics of the sport’s history, defeating Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam 18.10 to 17.80.

Chianca’s reward is an all-Brazilian quarter-final with Gabriel Medina.

There will be three quarter-finals pitting compatriots against each other, with Tahitian Kauli Vaast, representing France, against Joan Duru.

The final quarter-final will see Peru’s Alonso Correa take on Brazil’s Reo Inaba, who progressed with a score of just 6.00.

With the women’s round three postponed and worsening conditions forecast for Wednesday (AEST), the surfing appears certain to be kicked into reserve days.

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