After posing in a photo with fellow Australians Bede Durbidge and Ethan Ewing—who are competing in the sport he is officiating—surfing judge Ben Lowe was sent home in shame from the Paris Games.
A photo from Tahiti, where the Paris Games surfing events are taking place at the renowned Teahupo’o break, went viral after being posted on Instagram. The image and its caption revealed that the three were good friends, prompting the International Surfing Association (ISA) to take urgent action.
The ISA removed Lowe from his position following accusations of potential bias, considering that Lowe had the opportunity to tilt the scores in Ewing’s pursuit of an Olympic gold medal. The ISA issued a statement saying judges should not engage in such behavior with athletes and their teams. In line with the ISA’s code of conduct and the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics, Lowe, an experienced WSL judge, was stripped of his duties.
With Lowe removed, the competition heats up without the risk of favoritism toward fellow Australians.
Meanwhile, Australian women’s surfing sensation Tyler Wright advanced to the quarterfinals of the Olympics, defeating Israel’s Anat Lelior. Following two storm-related off days, the Teahupo’o surge subsided, allowing the women’s field to complete their heats.
Since Wright hadn’t competed since Monday, the wait was longer for the winner of heat one, who skipped the second heat. When facing Lelior, Wright quickly took the lead with an early score of 5.83. After a modest second score of 2.67, she rode a minor wave with quick turns but was left dangling over the perilous shallow reef when it brought her too close to the beach.
She stood up, exposing the ankle-deep water that had caused numerous injuries while waiting for a jetski ride back to the waves. Lelior took advantage of Wright’s absence, taking a shot at two waves but failed to score much.
With 10 minutes remaining, the score was 8.50 to 7.74. Wright, showing her class, navigated the waves to the desired barrel and scored a 5.27 to secure the win. Wright will now face American Marks at 10:12 a.m. AEST.
