France's Kauli Vaast won men's surfing Olympic gold on Monday on his home waves at Teahupo'o in Tahiti, while the United States' Caroline Marks claimed gold in the women's event in a thrilling final.

Vaast, who grew up nearby, outperformed Australian silver medallist Jack Robinson by riding the two best waves of their high-level match. Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil, a widely tipped favorite, secured the men's bronze, defeating Peru's Alonso Correa with a score of 15.54 to 12.43.

An AFP photograph of Medina celebrating a wave ride last week, which earned a record Olympic score, became a defining image of the Paris Games. However, local prodigy Vaast dominated the final against Robinson, scoring 9.50 on his first wave and achieving a total of 17.67 against Robinson's 7.83.

"The mana was with me today," Vaast said, referring to a supernatural force in Polynesian culture. "From the beginning, every day I felt it, it was there." Winning on his home turf of Teahupo'o was "the cherry on the cake," he added. "For all of France, for all of Polynesia, it's incredible."

In the women's final, Caroline Marks narrowly defeated Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb by 0.17 points, becoming the second American Olympic surfing champion after Carissa Moore in 2021. France's Johanne Defay took the women's bronze with a score of 12.66, surpassing Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy's 4.93.

The evenly matched women's final was decided in the last few minutes. Marks, a 22-year-old world champion, scored 10.50 with her best two waves, edging out Weston-Webb, who managed 10.33. Born in Florida, Marks moved as a teenager to San Clemente, California, a hotbed of American surfing.

Vaast's triumph on his home waves and Marks' thrilling victory exemplify the excitement and high stakes of Olympic surfing, highlighting the sport's growing prominence on the global stage.