The tower. The local hero who won Olympic Gold. The women of Team USA establishing themselves as the first nation to take back-to-back gold medals in Olympic surfing. A single photo captivating millions of people around the world, both surfers and non-surfers alike. A judging controversy, because surfing at the highest level can’t live without a judging controversy. A five-time world champion revealing retirement after these games was “the plan all along.”
The sport’s second run in the Summer Olympics saw a lot of action and captivating headlines — more so than its Olympic debut in 2021.
It would be tough to argue things didn’t go well for a contest that carried a lot of drama before the Games’ opening ceremony. Because regardless of which headline caught the most attention through five days of competition (and the handful of lay days that separated them), it would have all been moot had Teahupo’o not delivered waves.
Teahupo’o was the real star of the show, after all.
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