'Greatest sports photo of all time' from Paris 2024 Olympics as photographer describes moment he 'pushed button'

A photographer has described the moment he "pushed the button" on a snap that has been described as the "greatest sports photo of all time" at the Paris Olympics .

Jérôme Brouillet from Agence France-Presse (AFP), a French international news agency, said "every photographer is waiting for that," in reference to a magnificent snap of surfer Gabriel Medina of Brazil suspended in mid-air.

The "perfect" picture of the 30-year-old, who is seen clear as day beside his surfboard metres above the crashing waves with his finger pointing in the air, has gone viral and has been dubbed "the greatest sports photo of all time".

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Brouillet was in a prime spot waiting for surfer Gabriel Medina of Brazil to "kick out" which means exiting the wave face at the end of his run.

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"Every photographer is waiting for that," Brouillet told the BBC. "You know Gabriel Medina, especially at Teahupo'o will kick off and do something.

"You know something is going to happen. The only tricky moment is where he is going to kick out? Because I'm blind! Sometimes he makes an acrobatic gesture and this time he did that and so I pushed the button."

The photo has made a splash - pardon the pun - since it was published and has been plastered across the websites of every major news outlet across the world.

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Medina, a three-time world champion , had appealed for a perfect wave score of 10 but had to settle for 9.9, the best score of the Olympics so far.

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