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Surfer
Olympic Warmup Wipeouts: Carnage at Teahupo'o Ahead of Paris 2024
By Dashel Pierson,
5 days ago
Mikey Wright was definitely one of the standout visiting surfers to Teahupo’o for the big swell. He picked some really dramatic waves and made nearly all of them except for this wave that destroyed him on the west bowl.
Photo&colon Ryan "Chachi" Craig
Ever since cameras were first pointed at surfers, there have been wipeouts. The documented carnage – oft seen in surf videos, like ...Lost films from the late nineties into the early aughts – were designed for viewers to cringe, shudder and, in some sick sense of schadenfreude , relish. It’s human nature; it’s simple; we like seeing others eat shit.
Of course, we don’t like seeing people actually getting hurt, their lives being at stake. But still, even when the stakes are high, like at the Paris 2024 Olympic surfing venue, Teahupo’o, Tahiti, we become rubberneckers on the freeway during an accident. We can’t look away when things go wrong. And at a wave like that, one notoriously tricky, things go wrong quite a bit. So, ahead of the Olympic event (July 27th-August 5th), there were plenty of wipeouts going down during the practice sessions. Here’s a handful of them, frozen in time, for your viewing pleasure.
[All photos and captions courtesy of Ryan "Chachi" Craig]
After making an incredible drop, Eimeo Czermak chose to hit the eject button and somehow avoided getting sucked back over. He might be the most comfortable surfer in the entire Teahupo’o lineup with respect to these types of scenarios. Griffin Colapinto pin drops on a bomb. After making the first section of the wave, Barron Mamiya is confronted with a big wrapping west bowl closeout as the spit clears. Technically not a wipeout...yet. This wave of Benji Brand's bent so far down the line there was no prayer of him making it. This is the moment of calculation as he decides exactly when to jump. Arenui Parker was flying through this barrel before the foam ball lifted him and he went head over heels. A second after this frame, he slammed straight into the reef, ending his surf for the day and he required some assistance getting back to land to get cleaned up. Kala Grace, moments before getting engulfed by the foam ball on a thick west-bowl tube. Before getting the paddle wave of the swell, Gilbert Teave had this dramatic wipeout to dust the cobwebs off. Griffin Colapinto braces for a turbulent shock wave that lifted him straight into the ceiling of the tube. It’s pretty rare to see Matahi Drollet fall. In fact, I think this is only the 3rd or 4th wave I’ve ever seen him not make. Ned Hart, going over the handlebars as the best wave of his trip slips though his fingers.
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