On a remote coral reef 16,000 kilometers from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina gave Olympic spectators one of the most memorable Olympic images to date, with an aerial celebration so perfect it looked good Unbelievable.
The Brazilian set off a thundering wave off Tahiti’s Teahupo’o on Monday, emerging from the rolling area before soaring into the air and appearing to land on Pacific clouds, pointing skyward with biblical calm, his The surfboard accurately reflects his movements.
The photo was taken by AFP photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect and the waves were higher than we expected.” He took the photo from a nearby boat, capturing the surreal image with such precision that some initially suspected Photoshop or AI was responsible.
“so he [Medina] I couldn’t see him behind the waves, and then suddenly he appeared and I took four photos, and this is one of them,” Bruye said.
“It wasn’t hard to take this photo. It was more about predicting the moment where Gabriel would make the wave.
But Bruyer had the knowledge and experience — he could see one of the best waves of the day coming and knew Medina often had this kind of celebration at the end of a wave.
As the images were automatically sent from the camera to the editor, the reaction was immediate, and Bruye admits he was “a little shocked” by it. “I was checking my phone during the six-minute break after the shoot and I got a lot of notifications on social media and I thought something happened to this photo and it was shared on ESPN and I thought: ‘Cool.'”
“It’s very cool, it’s a great shot and a lot of people like it. It’s not really a surf photo, so it attracts more people’s attention.
Three-time world champion Medina had called for a perfect 10 as she prepared to sail up, but could only manage 9.9, her best result at the Olympics so far. In a later Instagram post, the Christian surfer expressed this praise by quoting Paul’s words from Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. .
For photographers, the aesthetic appeal lies in its deceptive appearance. Medina appears to be standing on solid ground, his leg ropes suspiciously horizontal and his surfboard mimicking his stance perfectly.
Bruyer was also praised for his impeccable timing, requiring a fast shutter speed to capture sharp images of a moving ship in rough ocean conditions.
For Bruyer, the haunting photo was a delight, but he left its lasting appeal to others to determine.
“I captured photos of the day, I was on the boat with six talented photographers, and for sure everyone will forget about it next week. Tomorrow will be no different.
Medina was in the middle of his third round when the wave came, helping him easily defeat Kanoa Igarashi with a two-wave total of 17.40 out of 20, setting up his loss to the Japanese surfer at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics revenge.
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The eye-catching image will help boost surfing’s profile at the Olympics, which will host the sport for the second time in 2021.
