TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti — Team USA’s Caroline Marks advanced to the semifinals with back-to-back victories in the third round and quarterfinals of the women’s surfing competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

With conditions markedly different from the previous day of competition on the famed Teahupo’o Wave, surfers were faced with smaller, inconsistent and bumpy waves.

Marks (Melbourne Beach, Florida) competed against Tyler Wright (Australia) in the first heat of the women’s semifinals. Without big barrels, the American relied on her powerful turns to take the lead. Marks achieved individual wave scores of 4.00 and 3.77, totaling 7.77, to surpass Wright's 5.37.

“The conditions changed a lot even from my first heat to this round,” Marks said. “But I knew it would be a tough battle against Tyler, she's such a strong competitor. She's a two time world champion for a reason. I was really excited to surf that heat with her, and I'm really happy to come out on top.

“That's why I'm here is to medal and to do the best I can and come out on top, but at the same time, I'm just trying to focus on what's the task right ahead of me. So hopefully that leads me to a gold medal, we’ll see.”

In Heat 2 of the women's quarterfinals, reigning Olympic champion Carissa Moore (Honolulu, Hawaii) faced a challenging situation with inconsistent waves. At the buzzer, she caught her final wave, but the barrel collapsed around her, preventing her from improving her score. Ultimately, France's Johanne Defay claimed victory with a score of 10.34, surpassing Moore's 6.50

“You put everything you have into something,” Moore said. “I put my whole year, I took a chance, I left the tour, I came here and spent months out of the year just trying to do my very best. And when you come up short of a dream, it sucks. But at the same point, how fun it was. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I would have been so bummed if I looked back and had only done it half-heartedly. I went all in."

“I just hope that at the end of the day, I can encourage whoever's watching, you know, win or lose, don't be afraid to go into it fearlessly. And don't be afraid to fail. The process has been so much fun. I feel like there's been a lot of personal growth in and out of the water…Obviously, I'm really sad to not be part of finals day and get to represent my home and my family one more time, but I'm really grateful.”

Earlier in the day in Round 3, Marks and Moore advanced with ease, while Caity Simmers (Oceanside, California) saw her Olympic run come to an end. Marks faced Siqi Yang (China) in Heat 1 and handily took the win in 6.93 to 1.63. Moore was able to nab some small barrels as she went up against Sarah Baum (South Africa). Moore took the win in 6.93, to Baum’s 1.63.

Simmers faced Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil) in Heat 6. While Weston-Webb turned one of the two highest scores of the morning in 12.24, Simmers was unable to find a favorable wave, but made three efforts and clocked scores of 1.50 and 0.43 for a total score of 1.93.

“It went pretty bad for me,” Simmers said. “The ocean didn't really choose me out there. But that's how it happens.”

The competition is likely to continue on Saturday, Aug. 3 with the women’s quaterfinals and all medal events. The event has a 10-day window to complete the four-day competition, depending on the conditions. Official start lists and calls will be posted to Olympics.com

TEAM USA RESULTS

Caroline Marks: Women’s Semifinal Heat 1: 7.77 (4.00, 3.77); Women’s Round 3, Heat 1: 6.93 (4.33, 2.60)

Carissa Moore: Women’s Semifinals, Heat 2: 6.50 (3.50, 3.00); Women’s Round 3, Heat 4: 8.16 (4.33, 3.83)

Caity Simmers: Women’s Round 3, Heat 6: 1.93 (1.50, 0.43)

Full results from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 can be found here.

For more information, contact Katie Branham, 2024 U.S. Olympic Surfing Press Officer, at Katie@BranhamMedia.com or +1 719-237-9407.

Caroline Marks Advances To Surfing Semifinals at the Olympic Games

Loading...