Defending women's champion loses as Olympic surfing competition resumes with tricky Tahiti swells

Defending Olympic women's surfing champion Clarissa Moore of the United States was beaten in the Paris Games quarterfinals on Thursday as competition resumed in Tahiti after two days of unfavorable conditions had put the event on hold.

It was the end of the road for some of surfing's best athletes, including Moore, who won the first gold in the sport when surfing debuted at the 2020 Olympics and is a five-time world champion. She was eliminated by Johanne Defay of France.

“When are you come up short of a dream it sucks,” Moore tearfully said after her loss.

Moore took time away from surfing competitions this year, speaking openly about putting more time into her nonprofit organization which helps young women, and to start a family.

"I couldn’t have imagined a better place to finish off my career," Moore said. “I’m going to give myself some time to just take a break.”

The women’s third-round heats — which had been postponed twice — started the day, with smaller waves and some wind. Conditions were less favorable than the men’s competition on Monday , but athletes were determined to make the best they could of what the ocean had to offer.

“It was complicated to find the tube in the waves,” said French Polynesian Vahine Fierro, who lost her heat to teammate Defay. “I was ready to do maneuvers, to do tubes. But it was quite complicated on the water.”

Throughout the day swells remained steady but had fewer of the large barrels seen earlier in the week.

“Today was really tricky. I think every contest there’s like a survival day. And I feel like that was it,” said Brazil’s Gabriel Medina after beating teammate Joao Chianca in their quarterfinal heat.

Teammates from Australia, Brazil and France found themselves competing against each other at several points in Thursday’s heats.

“It sucks to have another teammate in the heat. This is the hardest part,” said French Polynesian surfer Kauli Vaast, who beat teammate Joan Duru in their quarterfinal heat. “But ... this is competition.”

Earlier in the day it was announced that a surfing judge was removed from the Olympic panel after a photo circulated online of him embracing a competitor along the shore’s edge this week.

The International Surfing Association released a statement on Thursday saying it removed Benjamin Lowe of Australia from the judging panel for the remainder of the competition to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition.”

Australia’s team management declined a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The next day of competition — still undetermined — will help decide which athletes will take home Paris Olympics medals. Each heat will feature two surfers, with the winner advancing to the semifinals and finally the gold medal heat. The losers of the two semifinal heats will compete in the bronze medal match.

Organizers postponed Friday's possible competition day due to the forecasted lack of contestable conditions. Weekend conditions could modestly improve after Friday, but with surf still overall slow according to surf forecasting website Surfline.

The surf forecast is the biggest determining factor of when the surfing competition will take place, predicting when swells are expected to arrive, as well as the angle and size of the waves. The competition must conclude by Aug. 5 — next Monday — so it’s important to pick what forecasters think will be the best days.

Alonso Correa of Peru, Vaast, Medina and Jack Robinson from Australia won their quarterfinal heats, advancing to the semifinals.

From the women's quarterfinals, Caroline Marks from the U.S., Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil and Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica won their heats to join Defay in the semis.