Gold for whale: Giant sea creature makes magical appearance at surfing event during Paris Games

A whale stole the show at an Olympics surfing event in Tahiti on Monday (Aug5). It made a surprise appearance in the seas, stunning onlookers during the women’s shortboard semifinal match. Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica were going head-to-head, and right then a whale, the biggest animal on Earth,jumped out of the water, giving an awe-worthy moment to competitors and spectators.

The surfing events during the Paris Olympics are being held in Teahupo’o, on the French Polynesian island. Mating, birthing and migration seasons are when whales are commonly seen around the islands. The video shows the surfers in the water and towards the back, the whale can be seen breaching, splashing and creating a giant wave.

The video is also making waves on social media with people dumb-struck to see such a mesmerising scene at the Olympics. "Oh wow, a whale steals the show during the Olympic surfing," wrote one user.

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"Whales enjoying Olympic Games surfing," one user wrote, with another adding, "This whale that showed up during #Olympic2024 surfing just won the tournament for me."

"Amazing. The Olympics surfing semi-finalists are getting photobombed by whales," a user wrote.

The scene was so beautiful that netizens just decided that the whale should take the gold.

Paris Olympics started on July 26 and will end on August 11.