Carissa Moore wins opening heat in Paris Olympics
Defending gold medalist Carissa Moore got off to a good start in the Paris Olympics, winning her heat to close out the first round of the women’s surfing competition Saturday in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
The Punahou alumna competed in the eighth and final heat and won with a two-wave score of 16.50 to beat Japan’s Shino Matsuda (11.16) and Portugal’s Teresa Bonvalot (10.34).
Moore advances to Monday’s third round by virtue of winning her heat. The other two surfers will compete in the second round scheduled for Sunday.
Moore’s total score was bested only by fellow American Caroline Marks, who scored a 17.93 in the first heat.
All three members of Team USA won their heats.
Kauai’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, who is surfing in her second Olympics for Brazil, finished second in her heat and will compete again on Sunday.
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Weston-Webb finished with a score of 10.33 behind Caitlin Simmers of the United States, who posted two wave scores of at least 6.43.
Weston-Webb scored a 5.83 and a 4.50 on her two best waves.
The semifinals and finals in the event are scheduled for Tuesday.