It was going to be difficult to follow up Kauli Vaast's electric performance to win the gold at his home surf break, but 22-year-old U.S. surfer Caroline Marks delivered a dazzling display of her own.
In a matchup with an esteemed barrel rider in Tatiana Weston-Webb, the American flaunted her superior instinct and ability, making the most out of the best waves in a barren heat to edge out her opponent and etch her name in Olympic lore with a gold medal.
Gold Final: Caroline Marks lands atop the podium to cement her young legacy
Caroline Marks and Tatiana Weston-Webb headed into the gold medal bout having persevered through two drastically different semifinal rounds.
Marks won by the slimmest of margins, delivering a clutch wave as time expired to tie the score. However, since her last wave was the highest of the heat she took the tiebreak win over France's Johanne Defay, exacting revenge for her teammate Carissa Moore, whom Defay knocked out in the quarterfinals.
Weston-Webb, on the other hand, had an incredibly easy semifinal round. Her opponent, Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy, made a massive mistake early on, receiving a priority interference and a significant penalty: She would only get to count one wave score. Weston-Webb calmly served up a pair of five-plus rides to clinch her spot in the gold medal match with nearly half of the period remaining.
The women were hoping for gorgeous waves in the gold medal final after seeing the men receive pristine sets. They had to wait a little longer than expected, though, as the first major score opportunity didn’t arrive until nearly halfway through the gold medal final.
It was Marks that struck first, entering with a tardy drop that allowed her to stall right in the pit of the barrel. She disappeared for a moment before bursting through the foam for a clean exit and a 7.50.
Once she had set herself up with the lead, the American's IQ took over. Marks recognized the scarcity of hollow swells rolling in and played priority throughout the latter half of the final. She padded her advantage with some decent rides when she could and blocked Weston-Webb when the few larger waves came through.
In the final moments, she tried to put it away with a huge score, but a wipeout left the door open for the Brazilian. Weston-Webb found the wave she’d been waiting for and dropped in to try to steal the match. The barrel never formed though, and she adapted to string together a few great turns and took the wave for as long as she possibly could, beaching herself on the shallow reef.
Needing just a 4.68 to win the gold, the surfers both anxiously awaited the score announcement after time ran out. Eventually, the loudspeakers announced a 4.50 — just shy of what Weston-Webb needed to take over the lead.
With another tight victory secured, Marks arrived back to shore on the shoulders of her coaches, draped in the American flag as an Olympic champion. At just 22 years old, she became the latest Olympic champion in women's surfing.
Bronze Final: Johanne Defay rewarded after battling the reef, heavyweight surfers
Johanne Defay wasted no time, taking a swell for a long ride all the way into the dry reef to take an early lead with a 5.83. She backed it up a few minutes later with a few huge hacks, getting nearly airborne off the lip for another solid score to pad her lead.
Hennessy tried to battle back, but she could not find her footing as Defay continued to shred, slowly bringing her total higher and higher.
After hitting her head on Day 1 and receiving four stitches, Defay battled back through a gauntlet of competitors, defeating two pre-tournament favorites in the Tahitian native, Vahine Fierro, and the reigning Olympic champion, Carissa Moore, to bring a bronze back to Paris for the host nation.
Results
See below for the full results from the semifinals and medal finals (winners in *bold)
Semifinal Heats
Semifinal 1
Johanne Defay (FRA) – 12.17 total – 6.50, 5.67
*Caroline Marks (USA) – 12.17 total – 7.00, 5.17
Semifinal 2
*Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) – 13.66 total – 8.33, 5.33
Brisa Hennessy (CRC) – 6.17 total – 6.17, 0.00 (PEN2 4.83)
Bronze Medal Match
*Johanne Defay (FRA) – 12.66 total – 6.83, 5.83
Brisa Hennessy (CRC) – 4.93 total – 3.00, 1.93
Gold Medal Match
*Caroline Marks (USA) – 10.50 total – 7.50, 3.00
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) – 10.33 total – 5.83, 4.50