Olympics Surfing Judge Axed Over Chummy Photo With Athlete

An Olympics surfing judge has been axed from a judging panel in Tahiti over a photo that showed him appearing friendly with a competing athlete and his coach. The judge, Benjamin Lowe, was pictured alongside fellow Australian national and pro surfer Ethan Ewing in an Instagram story uploaded by a Paris Olympics commentator, according to the Associated Press . The photo, which began circulating online shortly after it was posted, showed Ewing, Lowe, and Team Australia surfing coach Bede Durbidge embracing each other along with the caption “These 3 Straddie Boys doing their stuff at the Olympics” with two heart emojis. The International Surfing Association announced that Lowe would be removed from the judging panel on Thursday, adding in a statement that the decision was made to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition” and that “it is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team.

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