Surfing Judge Pulled From Olympics Over Photo

Australian Olympic surfer Ethan Ewing and team coach Bede Durbidge are from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, as is surfing judge Ben Lowe—and sports authorities were not happy to see a photo of the three men together. Lowe was cut from the panel judging Olympic surfing in Tahiti after the photo was posted on Instagram, reports Reuters. It had the caption: "These 3 Straddie boys doing their stuff at the Olympics." The sport's governing body, the International Surfing Association, said Thursday that it had removed Lowe from the panel to "protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition," the AP reports.

The ISA said it was "aware of a photo circulating on social media in which one of the Olympic surfing judges from Australia is seen socially interacting with an Australian athlete and the team manager. It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team." The Guardian notes that while "judging is highly subjective and criticism (leveled) at judges is often unfounded," Lowe had been strongly criticized by Brazilian fans for alleged bias against Brazilian champ Gabriel Medina, and a team official said his departure is "good for us." (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)