Caroline Marks of Team USA Advances to Surfing Semifinals; Defending Champion Carissa Moore Eliminated

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Caroline Marks of Team USA advanced to the women's surfing semifinals at the 2024 Paris Games, while the reigning U.S. Olympic champion Carissa Moore was eliminated from the competition.

Competing in the waters off the coast of Teahupo'o, Tahiti, Marks defeated Australia's Tyler Wright in the rescheduled quarterfinals on Thursday night after the event had been suspended for two days due to weather conditions.

Marks, a native of Melbourne Beach, Florida, scored a 4.00 on her first wave and a 3.77 on her fifth wave for a total score of 7.77, surpassing Wright's overall score of 5.37.

Marks' victory offers Team USA the chance to make up half of the semifinal field. However, Moore, who won the first-ever Olympic women's surfing gold at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, was eliminated by France's Johanne Defay. Defay won the quarterfinal matchup against Moore with a score of 10.34 to 6.50.

Olympic Surfing Semifinals Set

Marks and Defay will face off in the semifinal round, with a spot in the final at stake. The 22-year-old Marks, who finished one spot off the podium in Tokyo, will now aim to retain the gold for Team USA.

The other semifinal matchup will feature Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb against Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy.

Men's Surfing Semifinals

On the men's side, Peru's Alonso Correa will compete against France's Kauli Vaast in the semifinals, while Brazil's Gabriel Medina will face Australia's Jack Robinson.

Upcoming Surfing Events at the 2024 Olympics

The surfing semifinals and medal finals for both the women's and men's competitions are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 3, starting at 1 p.m. ET.

Where is Olympic Surfing Being Held?

The surfing competitions are taking place in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, located thousands of miles away from Paris. Tahiti is part of French Polynesia, a semi-autonomous territory of France.

Tahiti Welcomes Olympic Surfing

Tahiti celebrated the 2024 Olympic surfing event with sunshine, songs, and Polynesian culture, honoring the sport’s ancient roots nearly 9,800 miles from the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris.

How Does Scoring Work in Olympic Surfing?

Surfing is judged by a panel of five judges who score an athlete's wave ride on a scale from 1-10 in 0.01 increments. For each wave ride, the highest and lowest scores are discarded. The average of the three remaining scores gives an athlete their total for that single ride.