Barrels and pigdogs – the best Olympic surfing pictures from Tahiti
Held at Teahupo’o in Tahiti, AKA the ‘wall of skulls’, the Olympic surfing competition saw some epic waves
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Luana Silva of Brazil gets barrelled in one of the early rounds at Teahupo’o, the famous surf spot in French Polynesia which is 15,000km from the epicentre of the Games in Paris.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/Reuters
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Filipe Toledo of Brazil snaps off the top of a wave.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/Reuters
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Alan George Cleland Quiñonez of Mexico, left, shakes hands with Andy Criere of Spain.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/AP
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Ethan Ewing of Australia tucks in.
Photograph: Getty Images
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Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica ducks a wave.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/Reuters
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Candelaria Resano of Team Nicaragua rides a small wave as photographers capture the moment. Teahupo’o can throw up monstrous waves on its day when southwest swells spill over the razor sharp reef.
Photograph: Ed Sloane/Getty Images
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American actor and screenwriter Colin Jost films a segment as he covers Olympic Surfing in Tahiti for NBC.
Photograph: Sean M Haffey/Getty Images
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Johanne Defay of France – one of many surfers to wear a helmet – reacts after her heat.
Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
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Brazil’s João Chianca drops into a wave in the third round.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/AP
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Reo Inaba of Japan on a steep take-off as the swell really picks up.
Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP
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Connor O’Leary of Japan gets swallowed up.
Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA
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A videographer is rescued after a wave knocks him into the whitewater.
Photograph: Sean M Haffey/Getty Images
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Jack Robinson of Australia is rescued by water patrol after falling.
Photograph: Ed Sloane/AFP/Getty Images
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A huge wave passes by as Griffin Colapinto of the United States and Kauli Vaast of France elect not to ride it.
Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP
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Robinson prepares for the worst as Teahupo’o delivers an epic session, just as organisers hoped.
Photograph: Ed Sloane/AP
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Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam reacts after exiting a wave.
Photograph: Getty Images
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Robinson, a master at riding backside pig-dog style at Teahupo’o, delivers another decent score.
Photograph: Getty Images
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The shot of the Olympics: Gabriel Medina of Brazil kicks out off the back of a huge wave and floats in the sky. The wave earned him a score of 9.9 from the judges.
Photograph: Jérôme Brouillet/AFP/Getty Images
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Anat Lelior of Israel carves on a wave.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/Reuters
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A photo created with a slow shutter-speed shows Medina in action during the bronze-medal match.
Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA
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Caroline Marks of United States celebrates after winning the women’s event.
Photograph: Ben Thouard/Reuters
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France’s Vaast, who grew up in Teahupo’o, reacts as he exits a wave during the men’s gold medal match.
Photograph: Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images
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People on boats in the channel celebrate Vaast’s victory.
Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA
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Gold medalist Marks cries on the podium.
Photograph: Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images
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Silver medalist Jack Robinson of Australia (left), gold medalist Vaast (centre) and bronze medalist Medina on the podium.
Photograph: Ed Sloane/AP
