Jack Robinson barrels into last 16 of Olympic surfing event in Tahiti as Molly Picklum exits

• Australian earns competition-high score of 9.87 in second round
• He joins compatriots Tyler Wright and Ethan Ewing in round three

Competitive surfing is part skill, part wave knowledge and part luck. And on Sunday in Tahiti, those elements came together in the perfect moment for Australian surfer Jack Robinson, as he posted the best individual wave score of the Paris Olympics to date.

Facing a must-win elimination heat against Peruvian Lucca Mesinas, and with an inconsistent swell, Robinson showed his masterful knowledge of the fearsome Teahupo’o break. The West Australian foxed his opponent by paddling up and down the take-off zone, before baiting Mesinas into going for a wave. That left Robinson with priority right when the wave of the day arrived on the horizon, a peak noticeably bigger than any that had come before. Part knowledge and part luck, Robinson was in the right place at the right place.