Olympics surfing judge Ben Lowe has been sent home from the Paris Games in disgrace after posing in a tone-deaf photo with fellow Aussies Ethan Ewing and Bede Durbidge, who are competing the events he’s officiating.
The image – taken in Tahiti where the Paris Games surfing is being staged at famed break Teahupo’o – was uploaded to Instagram, and quickly became a talking point.
The post was captioned: ‘these three Straddie (Stradbroke Island) boys doing their stuff at the Olympics’ prompted the International Surfing Association (ISA) to act immediately.
Amid calls of potential bias given Lowe could have scored Ewing as he chases an Olympic medal, the ISA relieved Lowe of his duties.
‘It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team,’ an ISA statement read.
Lowe, who is an experienced WSL judge, has been stood down in accordance with the ISA’s code of conduct and the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics, the ISA confirmed.
Meanwhile, Aussie women’s star Tyler Wright has booked an Olympics quarter-final after canny surfing in her final heat in the French Polynesia.
The two-time Australian world champion spent three days on the beach before returning to the Tahitian waters on Friday (AEST), dispatching Israel’s Anat Lelior 11.10 to 7.74.