Home » Home » Space Coast Native Caroline Marks Olympic Semifinal Contest in Tahiti Rescheduled to Monday
Space Coast Native Caroline Marks Olympic Semifinal Contest in Tahiti Rescheduled to Monday
Brevard County native and Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee Caroline Marks, 22, advanced to the semifinals with back-to-back victories in the third round and quarterfinals of the women’s surfing competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. (Caroline Marks Facebook image)
TAHITI – Brevard County native and Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee Caroline Marks has to wait until Monday to continue her quest for gold after the Olympics rescheduled semifinal action to Monday.
Marks will compete in the semifinals against Johanne Defay
With conditions markedly different from the previous day of competition on the famed Teahupo’o Wave, surfers were faced with smaller, inconsistent, and bumpy waves.
Marks (Melbourne Beach, Florida) competed against Tyler Wright (Australia) in the first heat of the women’s semifinals. Without big barrels, the American relied on her powerful turns to take the lead. Marks achieved individual wave scores of 4.00 and 3.77, totaling 7.77, to surpass Wright’s 5.37.
Marks is no stranger to the big stage having competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she missed the podium by one place at Tokyo 2020, but with Paris 2024 in her sights, she sits ranked as world number two and is hungry for Olympic gold.
The 22-year-old Space Coast surf phenom has been at the top of the scene ever since becoming the youngest person to ever qualify for the WSL Championship Tour at age 15.
“I’m in such a different headspace now from the last Olympics,” Marks said during a recent interview.
Surfers will compete across four days during a nine-day window from Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, August 4. The tentative competition dates are set from July 27-30.
When asked what her favorite book is, Caroline Marks doesn’t hesitate with her answer.
“The Bible,” said the then-14-year-old surfing wunderkind from Melbourne Beach.
Her faith and her family come first to Caroline, and this well-grounded attitude, coupled with an incredible surfeit of innate talent, has enabled this young surfer to earn serious accolades from the surfing community well before she can even drive.
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