Gabriel Medina and his surfboard appear to be floating vertically above the water, his finger confidently in the air. The most spectacular photo of the Olympic Games, almost 16,000 kilometers from Paris, does not include the breathtaking backdrops such as the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and the Invalides. In the surfing qualification, the Brazilian caught a brutal wave off the coast of Tahiti, shot through the tube and took off in celebration.
All conditions met
Meanwhile, AFP photographer Jérôme Brouillet took the photo that is already considered an icon of this year’s Summer Olympics. To capture this moment, he pressed the shutter button just four times. One of the photos was the one that is now going around the world. “It wasn’t difficult to take the photo. It was more about anticipating the moment and figuring out where Gabriel would come out of the wave,” said Brouillet.
There are two media boats from which the surfing events in the waters off Tahiti are recorded, Brouillet explained to Time Magazine. He was on one of them – and he was lucky. “To be fair, if all the conditions are right – weather, waves, light, if the boat driver is in the right position and if you know how to use your camera – you can get good pictures of surfing in Teahupo’o,” he said. The rest is experience, timing and a bit of luck.
“The perfect wave”
Normally, photographers take around 20 photos per second at sporting events. “I don’t like burst photos, otherwise I’ll end up with 5,000 photos in the evening,” said Brouillet. He had the feeling that he had captured a special moment the moment he pressed the shutter button. “Every photographer waits for something like that,” said Brouillet.
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At the same time, Gabriel Medina from Brazil, pictured, also had a good feeling. “It felt like a ten,” he said. He had already achieved this highest possible score per run several times and was sure he had done it again this time. “It was the perfect wave,” he said. In the end, Medina, one of the best surfers in the world for years, received 9.90 points – the highest score to date in an Olympic surfing competition. This qualified him for the quarterfinals.
With material from AFP and dpa.
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Gabriel Medina and his surfboard appear to be floating vertically above the water, his finger confidently in the air. The most spectacular photo of the Olympic Games, almost 16,000 kilometers from Paris, does not include the breathtaking backdrops such as the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and the Invalides. In the surfing qualification, the Brazilian caught a brutal wave off the coast of Tahiti, shot through the tube and took off in celebration.
Meanwhile, AFP photographer Jérôme Brouillet took the photo that is already considered an icon of this year’s Summer Olympics. To capture this moment, he pressed the shutter button just four times. One of the photos was the one that is now going around the world. “It wasn’t difficult to take the photo. It was more about anticipating the moment and figuring out where Gabriel would come out of the wave,” said Brouillet.
