Caroline Marks stole the show in shortboard surfing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After several days of weather delays, world champion Caroline Marks won the gold medal in surfing on Monday as the waves grew near Teahupo’o, Tahiti. She defeated silver medallist Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil. And it would turn out to be a major turning point in Marks’s career.
The USA’s Caroline Marks unexpectedly quit the World Surf League (WSL) in 2022, due to severe physical and mental health issues. That made her future uncertain. But she returned stronger than before and won the 2023 WSL Finals. Without any question, her rise is still ongoing. Even though the Teahupo’o surf was relatively sleepy, Marks managed to get the winning point with a barrel ride that brought her 7.50 points.
Caroline Marks’s Emotional Victory
Caroline Marks, who moved to San Clemente, California, from Melbourne Beach, Florida, expressed her enthusiasm before the final round. She was confident that she’d return home with a medal—the only thing left to decide on was what color. Sure enough: Caroline Marks finished early in the 35-minute final to claim the gold medal in the women’s shortboard category held in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
For the first ten minutes, it was like a game of cat and mouse. Both surfers waited for an opportunity to catch exactly the right wave. The excitement began at the 15-minute mark when Caroline Marks surfed the tube, the ideal wave, to perfection. It earned her a 7.50 score. She thus overcame Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb who won silver. Johanne Defay of France walked away with the bronze. After posting a two-wave score of 10.50, while Weston-Webb finished with a total score of 10.33, Marks was declared the winner of the competition.
“I’m just really happy and just trying to soak everything in because it’s probably the best day in my life,” Marks remarked at the Olympics. “Once they announced (Weston-Webb) didn’t get enough, I just burst into tears. Just super emotional–your whole life goes into a moment like this, so it’s just really special.”
Marks’s First Olympic Medal
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For the American women, it was the second consecutive gold in surfing. This sport had its Olympic debut in 2021 when American surfer Carissa Moore won in Tokyo. With a tiebreak victory over Defay in the semifinals, Caroline Marks qualified for the gold medal match. Due to delays caused by the rainy, windy weather in Teahupo’o, one of the top surfing locations in the world, the tournament was held on the very last day of the 10-day window that was allocated to complete it.
Marks’s victory comes at a perfect time for American surfing. Moore, who has dominated women’s surfing for the past ten years, went into the Paris Games intending to win back her Olympic gold medal. However, Moore didn’t make it to the medal rounds in the Teahupo’o competition. After that, she said that she’d take a break before deciding whether or not to continue to compete in surfing.
Enter Caroline Marks, who struggled to inherit the mantle from Moore along with 18-year-old Caitlin Simmers. She’s also rising as a star on the U.S. surfing scene. It was the first-ever medal for the 22-year-old Marks, who competed in her second Olympics in 2024 after finishing off the podium in Tokyo.
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