Unbelievable Olympic surfing image of Gabriel Medina goes viral

A barely believable image from the surfing at the Paris Olympics has taken over the internet with fans all left saying the same thing.

Two-metre high waves in Tahiti are dishing up some tantalising contests for the Olympic Games.

Taking place some 16,000 kilometres away from Paris, the towering Teahupo’o is producing some electric moments for competitors.

But one moment has blown the rest out of the water with Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina producing an image for the ages.

After producing a 9.90 score, the highest score in Olympic history, Medina threw his hand in the air as he ditched his board with a photographer capturing the barely believable moment.

The snap looks like it has been doctored on photoshop as it shows Medina hovering in the air with his surfboard standing upright in the distance.

The image quickly whipped around social media with fans left questioning if it was fake due to looking so outrageous.

“This might be the best sports photo I’ve ever seen in my life,” one wrote on X.

A second added: “Gabriel Medina you’re from another world! May you win the gold you deserve.”

No, that’s not a fake photo. Picture: Jerome Brouillet/AFP

While Medina’s sky-walking abilities stole the show, Aussie surfer Jack Robinson sent world No. 1 John John Florence packing

Robinson, the world No. 3, prevailed over his American counterpart in treacherous conditions on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old two-time world champion ultimately got the job done with a score of 13.94 to edge out Florence’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.

“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.”

Robinson toppled the world number one. Picture: Ed Sloane/Pool/AFP

Fellow Aussie Ethan Ewing also made his way through to set up an all-Aussie quarter-final showdown.

Ewing took care of business against Australian-born Connor O’Leary, who is representing Japan at the Games.

As the conditions pummelled both surfers, it was Ewing who got the job done as he edged out O’Leary 14.17 to 11.00.

The quarterfinal contest means at least one Aussie surfer is guaranteed a spot in the final four.

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

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

With a storm system south of French Polynesia rolling in, organisers were forced to abandon the women’s heats and with conditions expected to get worse the competition could be on hold for a few days.

Originally published as Unbelievable Olympic surfing image of Gabriel Medina goes viral