This Olympic Surfer Set A Record, And So Should This Photo
This photo is amazing and not AI, y'all. Photographer Jerome Brouillet snapped this shot when surfer Gabriel Medina had just finished a great run.
The image, captured by Jerome Brouillet for Agence France-Presse, showed Medina and his tethered board appearing to perform parallel levitations above the South Pacific Ocean. Rather than a scene of serenity, however, the photo told a striking tale of the Olympics’ competitive spirit, given that Medina was using his right arm and raised index finger to make a “No. 1” gesture while in midair.
The 30-year-old Medina, a three-time World Surf League champion, had good reason to proclaim his primacy. He had expertly dropped into a barrel and emerged on the other side not just with aplomb, but with all his fingers raised in a signal to judges to award him a perfect 10. Some did just that, and Medina came away with a score of 9.90 that marked a new Olympic record for a single wave run.
Medina scored high enough to move to the quarterfinal, where we can only hope for a score as big as this for both surfer and photographer.
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