TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti (Reuters) – Olympic surfing will resume on Thursday after two-and-a-half days of competition were lost to stormy weather, with women’s round three up first and quarter-finals for men and women set to run in solid but still wind-affected waves in Tahiti.
Delays due to poor conditions are completely normal in surfing competitions, with organisers having a 10-day window to run four days of heats – though picking those days is not always easy.
The swell is set to drop during Thursday and into Friday before a small bump up on Saturday, making it the likely day to find the medallists.
Tahiti’s Teahupo’o delivered some of the best conditions ever seen for a competition for the men’s round three on Monday, before strong winds ripped through the lineup and continued into Tuesday and Wednesday.
First up at 7 a.m. (1700 GMT) is Australian world champion Tyler Wright against Israel’s Anat Lelior before local favourite Vahine Fierro takes on countrywoman Johanne Defay in heat two.
Friendly fire is a theme for the men’s quarter-finals too. France’s Kauli Vaast and Joan Duru will meet in their quarter-final before Brazil’s Joao Chianca and Gabriel Medina come up against each. Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson of Australia will also be fighting for a semi-final berth.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Tahiti; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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