Surfer Floating on Water 'Geomjicheok'... "Historic Photo Captured" Praise [Paris Olympics]

Surfing Star with 12.52 Million SNS Followers
Records Over 5.7 Million Views in One Day

A stunning photo, likely to be considered the best of the 2024 Paris Olympics, was captured in a moment and has become a hot topic. On the 30th (local time), the British BBC reported an article titled 'Could this be the photo of the 2024 Paris Olympics?'. The photo was taken of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina (30), who competed in the men's surfing preliminary round 3 held the day before on the island of Tahiti Teahupo'o in French Polynesia.

Medina, a skilled athlete who has won the World Surf League three times, successfully executed a high-difficulty maneuver in this match and received a score of 9.90 out of 10. It is the highest single wave riding score. After checking his score on the water, Medina raised his index finger and appeared from the wave.

An astonishing photo, considered one of the best of the 2024 Paris Olympics, was captured in a moment, becoming a hot topic.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

French AFP correspondent J?r?me Bruy?re (39) did not miss that moment and captured it with his camera. In the photo, Medina and the surfboard connected to his ankle are floating horizontally on the water surface, making it look as if Medina is levitating in the South Pacific. The Washington Post (WP) evaluated, "This photo was not a calm scene but an impressive moment showing the Olympic spirit of competition, as Medina made a gesture indicating he was number one in the air."

Bruy?re, who has been photographing surfing and sports for 10 years, had taken photos of Medina several times before. He told WP, "The photographers on the boat and I thought Medina was going to do a ceremony, and he actually did," adding, "That's when I pressed the camera button." The photo, released online, quickly became a sensation. Bruy?re said, "I took out my phone and there were so many Instagram notifications," adding, "An unusually large number of people followed me. It was surprising how word of mouth spread."

He continued, "I didn't expect this photo to receive such a huge response," adding, "Some people say this photo is photoshopped, but Gabriel and the board were simply aligned with the leash connecting them." Medina posted the photo taken by Bruy?re on his Instagram and received 5.7 million 'likes' in just one day.

Medina advanced to the quarterfinals by scoring a total of 17.40 points in the third round of the preliminary heats, defeating Japan's Igarashi Ganoa, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist. According to the Olympic athlete introduction page, Medina is a surfer who is changing the flow of the global surfing scene.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

In the preliminary round 3 that day, Medina scored a total of 17.40 points, defeating Japan's Igarashi Kanoa, the silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, and advanced to the quarterfinals. According to the Olympic athlete introduction page, Medina is a player who is changing the flow of world surfing. With 12.52 million Instagram followers, he is the top star of the new generation of surfing. After setting a new record, Medina told Reuters, "I never imagined I would encounter such waves at the Olympics," adding, "Today was definitely a good day." Earlier, the men's surfing quarterfinals were originally scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Paris time that day, but the schedule is currently tentatively postponed due to bad weather conditions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.