2024 Paris Olympics live updates: Biles takes silver on floor; Thomas and Lyles advance in 200-meter races

Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil exited the 2020 Tokyo Olympics without a medal, and it looked like he might do the same in French Polynesia for the 2024 Games.

Team Peru’s Alonso Correa seemed to be in front before the second half of the bronze medal heat at Teahupo’o, but the judges’ call to let Medina keep a score on a wave that Correa clearly believed was snaked through interference changed the tone.

After that, Medina displayed his champion’s resolve and surfed like the last waves on Earth were before him, displaying power moves that almost seemed to make judges forget this was a tube-riding spot.

Medina and Correa got barreled when they could, but the heat came down to small-wave, skateboarding-style maneuvers, and Medina just couldn’t be beat.

After one of the juiciest tubes of the day, Medina punctuated the ride with an aerial 360 but fell when he landed nose-heavy. It was a relatively high-scoring wave anyway, and Correa never caught up.

Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb advanced to the surfing final after capitalizing on a mistake by competitor Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica, penalized for taking off on a wave that should have gone to Weston-Webb.

The interference happened earlier in the semifinal heat at Teahupo’o, and Hennessy never seemed to recover after she lost priority wave choice as a result.

On the other hand, Weston-Webb put on a workshop in high-performance surfing, making the most of head-high, so-so waves that rarely opened up for the spot’s trademark, high-scoring barrels.

She didn’t seem to care as she charged aggressively and painted the horizon with rooster tails of spray, carving up head-high walls with cool precision and taking the win via back-to-back, mid-scored waves