French Polynesian Kauli Vaast and Caroline Marks of U.S. win gold at Paris Olympics surfing

TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti (AP) — French Polynesian Kauli Vaast won the gold medal in men’s surfing while Caroline Marks from the United States won the women's surfing gold medal on Monday at the Paris Olympics in Tahiti.

Cheers and tears erupted from boats floating near the wave and crowds of spectators along the shore as the men's final match ended in the afternoon. Vaast pumped his arms into the air in victory after beating Jack Robinson from Australia, who received the silver medal.

“I don’t really realize it, but I just made history,” said Vaast. “I can’t be prouder to represent Tahiti and France at home.”

The women's gold medal match ended about thirty minutes later, with Marks beating Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil, who was awarded the silver medal.

“Your whole life goes into a moment like this,” Marks said with a gold medal hanging around her neck. “It’s beyond all my wildest dreams.”

For the bronze medals, Gabriel Medina from Brazil and Johanne Defay from France won after beating Alonso Correa from Peru and Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica, respectively.

“Chopes gave me so many good waves, so many good results. So I can’t complain,” said Medina, using a common nickname for Teahupo'o.

Medalists — some in bare feet — stepped on to the Olympic podium near the ocean as crowds gathered to cheer and take photographs. Roosters ran along the grass while young local surfers called the names of the athletes as they walked by.

All winners of the Paris Olympics surfing competition are first-time Olympic medalists, after defending Olympic women’s champion Carissa Moore of the United States — who won at the Tokyo Games, where Olympic surfing debuted — was beaten in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“Obviously I’m really sad to not be a part of finals day, to get to represent my home and my family one more time, but I’m really grateful,” Moore said after her loss. “I just hope that at the end of the day I can encourage whoever is watching, win or lose, don’t be afraid to go into it fearlessly and don’t be afraid to fail.”

The final day of the Paris Olympics surfing competition began Monday morning after two days of delays due to unfavorable conditions. In the morning, conditions were smaller than the heavy, barrel-shaped waves Teahupo’o is famed for and that were seen during part of the men’s competition the week before.

But by the afternoon waves grew larger and more frequent, giving athletes a chance to impress judges with the time they spent inside the barrels. At one point during the competition a whale jumped out of the water while surfers went head to head.

Six of the eight surfers who made it to the semifinals represented different nations. French Polynesian, Peruvian, Australian and other national flags flew from boats near the waves.

While not every surfer who competed was able to bring home a medal, many agreed that the second-ever Olympics surfing competition — filled with viral photographs, record-breaking scores and hours of stunning video footage broadcast to viewers around the world — helped promote the sport.

"Everyone’s watching and paying attention,” said Medina, who said he gained millions of social media followers after a photo of him floating in the sky next to his surfboard while bailing out of a wave went viral during the competition. “I think surfing wins”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Caroline Marks, of the United States, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Kauli Vaast, of France, celebrates during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Kauli Vaast, of France, center, celebrates alongside his coach Jeremy Flores, second from right, after winning the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Kauli Vaast, of France, celebrates after winning the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tatiana Weston-Webb, of Brazil, carves off a wave in the women's gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Tatiana Weston-Webb, of Brazil, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tatiana Weston-Webb, of Brazil, drops into a wave in the women's gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Tatiana Weston-Webb, of Brazil, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tatiana Weston-Webb, of Brazil, drops into a wave in the women's gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Caroline Marks, of the United States, gets a wave in the women's gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Caroline Marks, of the United States, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Jack Robinson, of Australia, snaps off the lip during the semifinals of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Jack Robinson, of Australia, snaps off the lip during the semifinals of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Kauli Vaast, of France, celebrates during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Kauli Vaast, of France, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Jack Robinson, of Australia, surfs during the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Caroline Marks, of the United States, turns on a wave in the semifinals of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Kauli Vaast, of France, celebrates after winning the gold medal match of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ROME (AP) — A court in Sicily is expected to announce its verdict Friday on whether Italy's vice premier, Matteo Salvini, was guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship when he was interior minister.

Salvini faces up to six years in jail if convicted on charges of kidnapping for the 2019 incident when he refused to allow the migrants to leave the Open Arms rescue ship at Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa.

A sentence of over five years would also automatically bar him from office. However, verdicts in Italy are only considered final once all appeals are exhausted, a process that can take years. Salvini has made clear he will not step down.

Now transport minister in Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, Salvini has defended himself, saying he acted to protect Italy's borders.

“I have kept my promises, combating mass immigration and reducing departures, landings and deaths at sea,” Salvini said on Friday as he arrived in court.

“Whatever the sentence, today is a good day for me because I am proud to have defended my country. I would do everything I did again," he added.

During the standoff, some of the migrants threw themselves overboard in desperation as the captain pleaded for a safe, close port. The remaining 89 people onboard were eventually allowed to disembark in Lampedusa by a court order.

Salvini took a hard line against migration as interior minister from 2018-2019 in the first government of former Premier Giuseppe Conte. He refused humanitarian rescue ships port and accused the groups that rescued migrants at sea of effectively encouraging smugglers.

Salvini has the support of Meloni, other government ministers and anti-migrant European lawmakers, as well as Elon Musk, who expressed his support in a message on the social media platform X.

Since she took power in 2022, Meloni has moved to crack down on migration, striking deals with northern African nations to prevent departures while also setting up centers in Albania aimed at vetting migrants rescued at sea in the non-EU country without allowing them to enter Italy. Those centers are not yet operational amid legal challenges.

Italy's deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, arrives at the Palermo's court Friday Dec. 20, 2024 as he awaits a verdict for preventing some 100 migrants from disembarking a rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Italy's deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, arrives at the Palermo's court Friday Dec. 20, 2024 as he awaits a verdict for preventing some 100 migrants from disembarking a rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Italy’s vice premier, Matteo Salvini arrives at a court in Sicily that is expected to announce its verdict on whether Salvini is guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship when he was interior minister, in Palermo, Italy, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)

FILE - A man who threw himself in the water from the Open Arms vessel, is intercepted by the Italian Coast guards as he tried to swim to the island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Gentico, File)

Former Interior minister Matteo Salvini leaves the Senate prior to a vote on lifting his immunity for a trial on Aug 2019 Open Arms case, in Rome Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP, File)