Brazilian surfer hovers above ocean in viral photo, breaks Olympic surfing record

A photo of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina seemingly defying gravity and hovering above the ocean has already become one of the most viral images of the Paris Olympics. 

The photo shows Medina standing upright several feet above the surface of the water, pointing upwards to celebrate during the fifth heat of the men's surfing competition at Teahupo’o in Tahiti.

Medina scored a 9.90, which breaks the Olympic surfing record for highest single-wave score since surfing became an official sport at the Tokyo Olympics. 

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The moment came on Monday during the fifth heat when Medina was facing off against Japan's Kanoa Igarashi, whom Medina lost to at the Tokyo Games in 2021. 

During Medina's second run of the fifth heat on Monday, he flew down the barrel and then propelled himself over the back of the wave, where he raised his finger to the sky and the photo was taken. 

"Felt amazing to get some good waves and I almost got a 10, so I was really happy with that. It’s really a dream come true to compete in waves like this for the Olympics. It was really in my dream and I’m realizing this today and I’m very happy to be a part of this," Medina told Olympics.com.

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NBC Sports broadcasters said Medina is favored to take home the gold, but there are still two more rounds to go.

The shot came courtesy of Agence France-Presse photographer Jerome Brouillet. 
 

"It was not hard to take the picture. It was more about anticipating the moment and where Gabriel will kick off the wave," Brouillet said, according to BBC. "I think that when he was in the tube he knew that he was in one of the biggest waves of the day. He is jumping out of the water like ‘man, I think this is a 10.'"

Since the photo was taken and gone live, it has quickly become one of the most circulated photos of the Paris Olympics on social media, despite the fact that it happened more than 10,000 miles away from Paris. 

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