Caroline Marks strikes gold in the women's surfing final, crowns herself the new queen

Caroline Marks at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games - Credit: (Getty Images)

Caroline Marks at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games – Credit: (Getty Images)

It was going to be difficult to follow up Kauli Vaast’s electric performance to win the gold at his home surf break, but Caroline Marks delivered a dazzling display of her own. In a matchup with an esteemed barrel-rider in Tatiana Weston-Webb, the American flaunted her superior instinct and ability, making the most out of the best waves in a baren heat to edge out her opponent and etch her name in Olympic lore with a gold medal.

WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS RESULTS
WOMEN’S FINALs RESULTS

Gold Medal Match: Marks lands atop the podium to cement her young legacy

Caroline Marks and Tatiana Weston-Webb headed into the gold medal bout having gone through two drastically different semifinal rounds. Marks won by the slimmest of margins, delivering a clutch wave as time expired to tie the score. However, her last wave was the highest of the heat, giving her a tiebreaker win over Johanne Defay to get some revenge for her teammate Carissa Moore, who Defay knocked out in the quarterfinals. Weston-Webb on the other hand had an incredibly easy semifinal round. Her opponent, Brisa Hennessy, made a massive mistake early on, receiving a priority interference and getting penalized by only being allowed to count one score. Weston-Webb calmly served up a pair of five-plus rides to clinch her spot in the gold medal match with nearly half of the period remaining.

The women were hoping for some gorgeous waves in the gold medal final after seeing the men receive some pristine sets. They had to wait a little longer than expected though, as the first major score opportunity didn’t arrive until nearly halfway through the gold medal final. It was none other than Caroline Marks that took advantage, entering with a tardy drop that allowed her to stall right in the pit of the barrel. She disappeared for a moment before bursting through the foam ball for a clean exit and a 7.50. Once she had set herself up with the lead, the American’s IQ took over. She recognized the scarcity of hollow swells rolling in and played priority throughout the latter half of the final. Marks padded her advantage with some decent rides when she could and blocked Weston-Webb when the few larger waves came through. In the final moments, she tried to put it away with a huge score, but a wipeout left the door open for the Brazilian. Weston-Webb found the wave she’d been waiting for and dropped in to try to steal the match. The barrel never formed though, and she adapted to string together a few great turns and took the wave for as long as she possibly could, beaching herself on the shallow reef. Needing just a 4.68 to win the gold, the surfers both anxiously awaited the score announcement after time ran out. Eventually, the loudspeakers announced a 4.50. With another tight victory, Marks arrived back to shore on the shoulders of her coaches, draped in the American flag as an Olympic champion. At just 22-years-old, she was now officially the new best in the sport.

Bronze Finals: Johanne Defay rewarded after battling the reef and heavyweights

Johanne Defay wasted no time, taking a swell for a long ride all the way into the dry reef to take an early lead with a 5.83. She backed it up a few minutes later with a few huge hacks, getting nearly airborne off the lip for another solid score to pad her lead. Hennessy tried to battle back, but she could not find her footing as Defay continued to shred, slowly bringing her total higher and higher. After hitting her head on Day 1 and receiving four stitches, Defay battled back through a gauntlet of competitors, defeating two pre-tournament favorites in the Tahitian native, Vahine Fierro, and the reigning Olympic champion, Carissa Moore, to bring a bronze back to Paris for the host nation.

See below for the full results from the semifinals and medal finals (winners in *bold)