Viral photo: Why this Brazilian Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina’s pose has captured the world’s attention

Brazilian Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina’s remarkable wave ride in Tahiti, captured by AFP photographer Jerome Brouillet, has garnered global acclaim with the photograph becoming a viral sensation and possibly the defining image of both the sport and the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
Brouillet, stationed in a boat in the channel, managed to photograph Medina exiting the wave after earning a record Olympic score, highlighting the surfer’s triumphant moment.
The photograph captured Medina soaring ashore, pointing a finger to the sky with his surfboard at his side, embodying a moment of sheer triumph.

Brouillet had positioned himself strategically in the channel, which allowed him to wait for Medina as he ‘kicked out,’ or exited, the wave face at the end of his run. This spot, although without a direct view of the initial action, was ideal for capturing the climax of the ride. Brouillet recounted his anticipation:
“Every photographer is waiting for that. You know Gabriel Medina, especially at Teahupo’o, will kick off and do something. You know something is going to happen. The only tricky moment is where he is going to kick out? Because I’m blind! Sometimes he makes an acrobatic gesture and this time he did that and so I pushed the button.”
“I think that when he was in the tube he knew that he was in one of the biggest waves of the day. He is jumping out of the water like ‘man, I think this is a 10’.”
Despite the brilliant shot, Brouillet remained cautious. “When I’m shooting at Teahupo’o I don’t shoot in such a high burst mode, because at the end of the day, if you push too hard on the button you come back with 5,000 shots in a day, and I don’t like that! I got four shots of him out of the water and one of the four shots was this photo.”
The image quickly gained widespread attention, being used by numerous publications globally and shared millions of times online. Australian media conglomerate .au hailed it as ‘the greatest sports photo of all time,’ while TIME magazine called it ‘the defining image of triumph of the 2024 Summer Games.’

Medina himself shared the photo on his Instagram account, where it rapidly garnered over 2.4 million likes. Despite the overwhelming response and accolades, Brouillet remained focused on his work. “I’m sleeping at a friend’s house near Teahupo’o and we’ll have a quiet one because if tomorrow the event is on, I have to wake up at five in the morning!”

Another photo that has gone viral from Paris Olympics 2024 is that of tennis sensations Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, the veteran and future of Spain, both playing for the same side.