Florida-born surfing prodigy Caroline Marks has swept up gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Marks beat Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb in the women's surfing finals Monday in the waters off Teahupo'o, Tahiti.
Earlier in the semifinal, she narrowly edged out France's Johanne Defay with a score of 12.17. Defay also scored 12.17 but Marks advanced on a tiebreaker.
SURFING AT 2024 OLYMPICS
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This is Mark's first Olympic medal.
“Your whole life goes into a moment like this,” Marks said with a gold medal hanging around her neck. “It’s beyond all my wildest dreams.”
The final day of the Paris Olympics surfing competition began Monday morning after two days of delays due to unfavorable conditions. In the morning, conditions were smaller than the heavy, barrel-shaped waves Teahupo’o is famed for and that were seen during part of the men’s competition the week before.
But by the afternoon waves grew larger and more frequent, giving athletes a chance to impress judges with the time they spent inside the barrels. At one point during the competition, a whale jumped out of the water while surfers were in the water.
The Melbourne Beach-bred Marks joined Carissa Moore to represent the United States in surfing’s debut at the Tokyo Olympics. She turned in a very strong performance, finishing fourth overall in the competition. Her score of 15.33 in the quarterfinals was also the highest score for any competitor, male or female, in the third round of surfing at the Tokyo Games.
