"The surfing semifinals at the 2024 Olympic Games had a surprise guest!"
If there is one thing the non-surfing accidental surf watcher enjoys, it is a flyaway air. If there is another thing, it is a dolphin, otter or other such lovable creature sharing the lineup with humanoid wave sliders. And, thus, the 2024 Paris Olympics delivered spectacles for the ages for those unengaged in the daily grind of our most torturous castration.
While surf fans grumbled about the lousy swell for finals day, Aunt and Uncle Nebraska held their breaths while the most significant Chordata of all broke the Pacific’s surface as Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy bobbed in the great nothing.
MSN reported, “A whale made a surprise appearance during an Olympics surfing event in Tahiti on Monday, 5 August. As Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica competed in a semi-final match, the huge marine mammal breached in a mesmerising spectacle for both competitors and spectators.”
National Public Radio crowed, “Viewers of Olympic women’s surfing didn’t only get to watch athletes compete on Monday, they were also treated to a surprise appearance by a curious whale. Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy were waiting for waves in the semifinals when they spotted something even more dramatic: a whale leaping headfirst out of the water in what is known as a breach.”
Yahoo! gasped, “The surfing semifinals at the 2024 Olympic Games had a surprise guest! On Aug. 5, while Brazilian athlete Tatiana Weston-Webb and Costa Rican athlete Brisa Hennessy competed in a women’s semifinal surfing match at the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, a whale breached in the distance, providing a perfect photo opportunity.
And on and on and on.
Though there is growing momentum to place Olympic surfing in a swimming pool, led by the very King of Teahupo’o Filipe Toledo (Reign: 7/29 – some of 7/30) himself, it will be hard to recreate the sort of mammal magic that the aforementioned Aunt and Uncle N. care most about.
Conventional thinking holds that the LA 2028 Olympic surfing component will be held in Huntington Beach and hope springs that a playful dolphin might make an appearance. If not, maybe someone waving a Pride flag being pitched from the end of the pier will suffice as dramatic backdrop.
Exciting.