During the surfing competition of the 2024 Paris Olympics, everyone was talking about photographer Jerome Brouillet’s incredibly timed image of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina seemingly suspended in the air, next to this surfboard.
Brouillet’s image has now won this year’s World Sports Photography Awards. Tahiti-based Medina was captured the incredible photograph on the third day of the surfing event in Teahupo’o, French Polynesia.
During the Olympics I interviewed Brouillet’s colleague, Ben Thouard, the only Olympic photographer who was allowed in the water during the surf events, who said of the image:
"Yesterday was a really great moment for my colleague, capturing Gabriel Medina kicking out, floating in the sky with his board behind him.
"That's probably the key moment of the Olympics so far, and I mean it's amazing to see this all unfold right in front of me. It's history."
Brouillet’s photograph was one of 24 winning images across the 24 categories, which included Urban and Extreme, Martial Arts, Boxing, Equestrian, Gymnastics and Football.
More than 2,200 professional sports photographers from over 96 countries around the world submitted in excess of 13,000 images to this year’s competition – which is the only global award for sport photography.
The competition is entered by the world’s best sports photographers, those willing to go to extremes to get the best shots, much like those they photograph. It’s designed to recognize and celebrate incredible sports images and the photographers who take them.
Below are a few of my favorites from this year's competition, which best tell the compelling stories of emotion, passion, athleticism and focus that are at the heart of all sports.
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