Tahiti's Olympic surfing gold medallist Kauli Vaast was among the standouts on Thursday as the Lexus Tahiti Pro got underway in huge, perfect waves at his home break of Teahupo'o, with California's Griffin Colapinto also starring in the heavy tubes.

The venue for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Teahupo'o again delivered stellar conditions for the world's top surfers in the final event of the regular season.

The top five men and women surfers at season's end win a spot in the World Surf League's one-day, winner-takes-all Finals in Fiji later this month.

Vaast, who competes on the second-tier challenger series, was given a wildcard and consistently found himself on the heaviest waves, racking up a two-wave total of 16.30 out of a possible 20.

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