Who is Caroline Marks? Florida native Olympian who just won gold for the US in surfing

A Florida woman was seen dominating in the Paris Olympics.

Surfer Caroline Marks joined women’s swimming sensations Torri Huske and Kate Douglass as the only Americans 22 or younger to win a gold medal in Paris. Marks took gold in the women’s competition early Tuesday morning in Tahiti, which is 12 hours behind Paris and more than 10,000 miles away.

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Her neighbors in Florida woke up on Tuesday to find Marks, the reigning world champion, had capped off a dominant run in the South Pacific. She scored a 10.50 to defeat Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb, who scored a close 10.33, in the final. Marks had just scored a 12.17 in the semifinals held earlier in the day to defeat France's Johanne Defay. 

The 22-year-old's medal also breaks the Olympic record for gold medal won furthest away from a main host city. 

"I'm just really happy and just trying to soak everything in because it's probably the best day in my life," Marks said after the win. "Once they announced (Weston-Webb) didn't get enough, I just burst into tears. Just super emotional — your whole life goes into a moment like this, so it's just really special."

Marks joined France’s Kauli Vaast, a Tahiti native, who won Olympic gold in the men’s surfing competition over Australia’s Jack Robinson. She also became the second consecutive American woman to win gold after longtime veteran Carissa Moore won gold for the U.S. at the first-ever Olympic surfing competition at the Tokyo games in 2021. 

Marks did it all in the waters known to produce the most intense waves on Earth — the Tahitian coast of Teahupo'o where waves can build as high as 10 feet. 

Marks has previously said that growing up in Melbourne Beach, Florida, gave her the opportunity to surf during hurricanes. She took advantage of those opportunities from an early age. She credited those experiences for being prepared to compete in Teahupo'o in previous competitions, and it also came in handy in her most recent world championship. 

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Last summer, she finished first in the 2023 World Surf League Finals, knocking off a slew of legendary veterans: eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, five-time world champion Carissa Moore and two-time world champion Tyler Wright, the only world champions in previous 15 years. 

Marks’ advantage was that the competition took place during Hurricane Jova in San Clemente, California. The hurricane was unexpected, as it was the first hurricane to reach Category 5 strength in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean since 2018, but Marks was ready for it anyway. 

It marked an uncertain comeback for Marks from just one year before that. Her future was unclear in 2022 when she abruptly left the World Surf League (WSL) for what she later explained stemmed from recurring medical and mental health issues. 

She was previously the youngest surfer to qualify for the women’s championship tour and to compete at a WSL event and finished just shy of a medal in fourth place at the Tokyo Olympics competition.

But now, with her Olympic gold in Tahiti, just one year removed from her world championship, Marks has arguably established herself as the sports’ most transcendent young competitor. 

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