An Australian surfing judge has been removed from the 2024 Paris Olympics after a photo went viral of him posing alongside a compatriot surfer and national team coach .
According to the Associated Press , a commentator shared an image of judge Benjamin Lowe smiling next to competitor Ethan Ewing and Team Australia coach Bede Durbidge. The photo was captioned, “These 3 Straddie boys doing their stuff at the Olympics,” a reference to the trio’s shared hometown of North Stradbroke Island in Queensland.
Fans online swiftly took issue with the post, arguing that Lowe’s apparent friendship with Ewing directly violated his duty to be impartial on the Olympic judging panel.
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“How can a guy who is going to judge surfing scores have a photo hugging a competitor?” one social media user asked, with another adding: “Why is judge Ben Lowe still actively acting...and why in this photo is he next to surfers who are in the competition that he is supposed to be impartial?”
The International Surfing Association (ISA) took quick action upon catching wind of the photo, promptly relieving Lowe of his judging role. “It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team,” the governing body wrote in an official statement.
“To protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition, and in accordance with the ISA Code of Conduct and IOC Code of Ethics, the ISA Executive Committee has decided to remove the judge from the judging panel for the remainder of the competition.”
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The surfing federation added that it had “communicated with all judges and teams to remind them of their responsibilities regarding appropriate behavior.”
Prior to serving on the panel in Tahiti over the last several days, Lowe acted as a longstanding judge on the World Surf League, additionally appearing as an official at the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021. But the 34-year-old has drawn the ire of some within the surfing community who believe he isn’t impartial.
Most recently, troves of Brazilian supporters accused Lowe of three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of purposefully scoring three-time world champion Gabriel Medina low. Speaking to Stab magazine on the heels of the Australian’s departure, one Brazilian team official declared: “This is good for us.”
“If there’s no photo, nothing probably happens. But the situation is clearly not right.”
Lowe’s ousting is not the controversy to rock the Olympics this week. On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) received considerable backlash after Imane Khelif - an Algerian boxer who previously failed a gender eligibility test - defeated her female opponent in less than a minute .
Khelif earned a divisive win in the 66-kilogram weight class after Italy’s Angela Carini pulled herself from the fight upon taking several punches to the face. Many viewers condemned the Olympics for allowing such an event to transpire, arguing that the 25-year-old shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s events.
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