Competitive surfing is part skill, part wave knowledge and part luck. And on Sunday in Tahiti, those elements came together in the perfect moment for Australian surfer Jack Robinson, as he posted the best individual wave score of the Paris Olympics to date.
Facing a must-win elimination heat against Peruvian Lucca Mesinas, and with an inconsistent swell, Robinson showed his masterful knowledge of the fearsome Teahupo’o break. The West Australian foxed his opponent by paddling up and down the take-off zone, before baiting Mesinas into going for a wave. That left Robinson with priority right when the wave of the day arrived on the horizon, a peak noticeably bigger than any that had come before. Part knowledge and part luck, Robinson was in the right place at the right place.
The 26-year-old, once dubbed the next Kelly Slater before he was even a teenager, threw himself over the ledge and into the barrel of the day. Robinson was duly rewarded by the judging panel, with a near-perfect 9.87 the highlight of the Olympic surfing so far. Along with a respectable 7.00 back-up score, it was enough to see off Mesinas.
But Robinson will need to draw on all his skill, knowledge and luck in the next round, after being drawn with current world No 1 John John Florence. The Hawaiian has reached three World Surf League event finals already this year, winning the Surf City El Salvador Pro. The duel between Florence and Robinson promises to be the heat of the last 16 on the men’s side of the draw.
The Australian is joined by two compatriots in the next round, with Ethan Ewing and Tyler Wright enjoying a lay-day on Sunday having avoided the elimination round with opening wins. Ewing, who broke his back in Tahiti last year, will face Cronulla-born Connor O’Leary, competing for Japan after the goofy-footer switched surfing allegiances last year (his mother is a former Japanese surf champion).
Wright, a two-time world champion and sister of Australian surfing bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, Owen Wright, will meet Israel’s Anat Lelior in the women’s draw. Wright withdrew from the last WSL event before the Olympics due to health issues, but has looked sharp in Tahiti.
But Sunday also brought heart-break for Australian’s Molly Picklum, who bowed out after a tough elimination round heat against France’s Johanne Defay. Picklum is considered a barrel-riding expert – she achieved the first ever women’s perfect 10 at the famous Pipeline break in Hawaii, and is a two-time champion of the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach. But in a scrappy heat the Australian could not find the scores she needed, failing to replace a 1.60 back-up score.
Depending on the conditions, the round of 16 could run as early as Monday morning local time.
