'Like he's walking on the cloud': The story behind the viral surfing photo from Paris Olympics

Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina had just made Olympic surfing history, receiving a score of 9.9 out of a possible 10 points during the third round of competition Monday at the Paris Games .

Standing with other photographers on a nearby boat off the coast of Teahupo'o, Tahiti, where the surfing competition is being held, Jerome Brouillet knew what was coming next.

The French sports photographer who had shot Medina several times in the past had a feeling the surfer was going to celebrate his run in some manner.

“So I took my camera and I pointed at the back of the wave," Brouillet told The Times on Wednesday. "The tricky moment is to catch him and to try to aim at the good position on the wave where you think he’s gonna appear. So I got six shots, maybe something like that."

The Agence France-Presse photographer ended up with an extraordinary shot, capturing Medina and his board in midair above the water , both vertical and nearly parallel to each other, attached several feet apart by his surfboard leash, which looked like a horizontal tether. With gray and white clouds intertwined in the sky behind him, Medina lofts his right index finger high above his head.

"The surfer is pointing to the sky with his finger like he was talking to someone," Brouillet said. "And because of the wind, the board moved next to him and I got the exact moment when the board and Gabriel were in the same position pointing at the sky. And later some people told me, 'Look at this, it’s like he’s walking on the cloud.'"

Brouillet sent a batch of images to his editor and went back to work shooting the event. By the time the photographer was able to check his phone during a break in the competition, AFP and Getty Images had already started distributing that particular shot — and reactions were pouring in.

"When I saw the picture at first, I just said, ‘Wow, it’s cool. The celebration is cool and the photo is cool,’" Brouillet said. "But I never [thought] it was going to be all this virality.”

Brouillet added that he has since realized it's a "once-in-a-lifetime shot."

Medina, 30, is a three-time World Surf League champion (2014, 2018, 2021) who finished fourth at the Tokyo Games in 2021. His near-perfect run Monday helped him advance past defending Olympic silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi , a Huntington Beach native who competes for Japan.

Brouillet said he has exchanged quick messages with Medina this week and hopes to have a longer chat with the surfer after the competition ends. Medina is scheduled to face fellow Brazilian Joao Chianca in the quarterfinal round Thursday.

“Gabriel just sent me a quick message, told me, ‘Good shot, bro,’ or something like that," Brouillet said. "And I just answered him, ‘Good ride, sir.’”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .