Surfing at the Paris 2024 Olympics: Tahitian Kauli Vaast Olympic champion at Teahupo’o, Johanne Defay wins bronze

Kauli Vaast a remporté l’or olympique chez lui à Tahiti. MAXPPP – BEN THOUARD

The most beautiful page in the history of French surfing. Tahitian Kauli Vaast won the first French Olympic title and the first gold medal in Tahitian sport on Monday in Teahupo’o, by beating Australian Jack Robinson in the final with panache. Johanne Defay won bronze in the women's small final.

Living very close to the spot and carried by the fervor of all of Polynesia, the 22-year-old surfer took the two best waves of a very high-level final to win just a few dozen minutes after the bronze won by the Reunion Islander Johanne Defay.

Tahitian surfing prodigy, Kauli Vaast took the lead in the series from his first wave, scored 9.50, to finally obtain a total of 17.67, against the 7.83 of Jack Robinson, resigned in the last moments for lack of finding waves.

“I scored well on my first wave and then it was the longest 15 minutes of my life. But there were no more waves for 15 minutes… the mana was with me,”, Vaast said, referring to the supernatural force in Polynesian culture.

#Paris2024 | 🔥🇫🇷 KAULI VAAST CHAMPION OLYMPIQUE DE SURF 🥇

🤩 Avec deux vagues magnifiques, le Français remporte sa finale à Tahiti et remporte la toute première médaille d'or olympique du surf français !

📺 Suivez le direct : https://t.co/kOJfhQ7QZO pic.twitter.com/bFAImmoype

— francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 6, 2024

As soon as the bell rang to end the series, the hero of Teahupo’o ran into the arms of the coach of the French team, Jérémy Florès, the only Frenchman to have ever won a stage of the pro tour in Tahiti in 2015. Florès, one of the great architects of this victory and the bronze obtained by the Frenchwoman Johanne Defay a few dozen minutes earlier, was proud of his troops.

"We tried to do the maximum so that they felt good […] without putting too much pressure on themselves, and that's where they really managed to manage", he estimated.

Championship Tour objective for Kauli Vaast

A resident for several years of the 2nd division of world surfing, the Challenger Series, Kauli Vaast has often been able to beat the best surfers of the elite circuit on this spot, as in 2022 when he reached the final of the Tahiti Pro invitational.

“My goal now is to qualify for the Championship Tour (the elite surfing circuit, editor's note) and that's what I'm going to continue to do but it's a huge confidence boost,”, Vaast said shortly after his victory.

“He has his goals. He wants to qualify for the world elite, he wants to win a stage here in Teahupo’o on the CT", his coach said. "The gold medal is done, he will enjoy this moment and then he will go back to work", he added.

Kauli Vaast won Olympic gold at home in Tahiti. MAXPPP – BEN THOUARD

Kauli Vaast grew up in Mahina, in the north of Tahiti, before settling with his two windsurfing parents facing the peninsula's wave, which became world-famous in the early 2000s.

His victory quickly sparked demonstrations of joy all over Tahiti. His mother, on the other hand, did not want to see her son surf: “When he competes in Tahiti I do the gardening”, declared Natou Vaast, relying on the shouts of the neighbors to know the results.

Kauli Vaast eliminated his friend and teammate Joan Duru in the quarter-finals, then Peruvian Alonso Correa in the semi-finals. He succeeds Brazilian Italo Ferreira as Olympic surfing champion, who won the title in 2021 in Tokyo for the sport's first appearance.

Johanne Defay in bronze

Johanne Defay from Réunion, 30, brought France its first Olympic medal in surfing on Monday, winning the small final against Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy.

Johanne Defay made the difference (12.66) with very committed maneuvers on modest waves for the spot. Brisa Hennessy (4.93), usually more efficient than her opponent in the Tahitian tubes, did not find the wave that suited her and waited too long.

Johanne Defay won the bronze. MAXPPP – Ma Ping

The French surfer had started her competition in pain at the start of the Games with a head injury on the first wave of her first series.

She had been stitched on the top of her forehead, before beating two favorites at Teahupo’o : her Tahitian compatriot Vahine Fierro, then the reigning Olympic champion Carissa Moore.