2024-08-06 00:53:21
Tahitian Kauli Vaast won the first Olympic title in French surfing and the first gold medal in Tahitian sport on Monday August 5, 2024 in Teahupo’o, beating Australian Jack Robinson with panache in the final.
Published on: 06/08/2024 – 02:53Modified at: 06/08/2024 – 03:22
2 minutes
Live very close to the spot and live by the fervor of all PolynesiaThe 22-year-old surfer took the best two waves of a very strong final to win just twelve minutes after the bronze won by Reunion Islander Johanne Defay.
Tahitian surfing prodigy, Kauli Vaast took the lead in the series from his first wave, measured 9.50, to finally get a total of 17.67, against the 7.83 of Jack Robinson, resigned during the last period.
At 22, the young Tahitian with a model body (1.76 m and 78 kg) still wears a broad childish smile that clings to his angelic face when he faces the monster, called “Jaw of Hava’e” by the Polynesian. , one of the most dangerous waves in the world.
Resident for many years of the 2nd division of world surfing, the Challenger Series, Kauli Vaast has always been able to beat the best surfers on the Elite Circuit in this field, like in 2022 when he reached the final of the Tahiti Pro by invitation.
Fervor in Tahiti
He grew up in Mahina, north of Tahiti, before settling down with his two windsurfing parents in front of the waves of the peninsula, becoming world famous in the early 2000s.
His victory quickly sparked an outpouring of joy throughout Tahiti. His mother, on the other hand, did not want to see her son drown: “ When he competed in Tahiti, I gardened “, Natou Vaast announced, relying on the cries of the neighbors to know the results.
Kauli Vaast eliminated his friend and teammate Joan Duru in the quarter-finals, then the Peruvian Alonso Correa in the semi-finals. He succeeds as the Olympic swimming champion of Brazil Italo Ferreira, titled in 2021 in Tokyo for the first appearance of the sport.
Read againAll the results of the 2024 Olympics
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