Surfing competition judge Ben Lowe had his ride at the Paris Olympics cut short Thursday in Tahiti after a social media post surfaced revealing him posing with Australian surfer Ethan Ewing and coach Bede Durbidge.
The International Surfing Associated removed Lowe from his posting to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition,” per the Associated Press.
“The ISA is 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,” the ISA said in a statement, per the AP. “It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team.”
Lowe, Ewing and Durbidge all hail from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, which made for a fitting Instagram caption of the photo, per the Daily Mail: “These 3 Straddie boys doing their stuff at the Olympics.”
The photo of the three raised many eyebrows — along with questions of objectivity.
The ISA’s statement noted that the decision factored in their code of conduct along with the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics, per the Associated Press’ report.
The ISA added that it “communicated with all judges and teams to remind them of their responsibilities regarding appropriate behavior,” per the AP.
Ewing rightfully addressed the matter following his heat.
“Yeah, I’ve kinda been copping some hate on it online but I really don’t know the story or have any insight on it,” he told Stab Mag.
“It’s sad for sure.”
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This isn’t the first time Lowe has been caught in the crosshairs of criticism.
He was a judge at the Tokyo Games, where many fans and pundits pointed the finger at him for being biased against star-studded Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina, according to USA Today.
The resurfacing of Lowe as a topic of conversation lead many to take to social media.
“the real question about the ben lowe situation is, how many heats has his bad judgment affected? we know his bias at the 2020 olympics, but he’s been a pain in the ass to EVERYONE for YEARS,” one user wrote on X.
Another quipped, “Deserved. Ben Lowe was known for purposefully giving bad grades (lower than average compared to other judges) to Gabriel Medina while giving opponents higher grades than average.”
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Looking beyond the disputes, Ewing lost his quarterfinal match to fellow Australian Jack Robinson, 15.33 to 13.00.
Medina, meanwhile, is through to the semifinals after a string of strong performances .