Tokyo Olympics: Hawaii's Carissa Moore catches a wave to a gold medal

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Hawaii's Carissa Moore carried off the beach after winning surfing's first Olympic gold medal.

This is the first time surfing has been included as an event in the Olympics so it is fitting that surfing's first gold medal goes to a native of Hawaii, the birthplace of the sport.

The world's No. 1 ranked woman surfer Carissa Moore is the first woman to ever win a gold medal in her sport at the Olympics. The surfing team's lone ethnic Hawaiian, she not only represented the U.S., she represented Hawaii and its people.

"I feel super blessed, super fortunate. It's been an incredible experience," Moore said after beating South Africa's Bianca Buitendag in the final competition. 

"It's been a crazy couple of days, a little bit of a rollercoaster of emotions just trying to figure out the break, find my rhythm, learning how to trust myself without my family here." 

After Tropical Storm Nepartak bypassed the Olympic site overnight, a rainbow spanned the sky over Tsurgasaki Beach 40 miles from Tokyo. It may have been a sign from her the Rainbow State where her family stayed up late in Hawaii to cheer their hometown hero.

Buitendag had trouble catching the rough waves unable to perform her tricks but Moore caught wave after wave building an unsurmountable score.

Moore, the four-time World Surf League champion ,entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. She has been surfing since she was seven.

"The ocean has changed my life and I can't imagine my life without it, I'll be surfing until I'm in the ground," Moore added. "Riding the wave makes you feel free, it makes you feel present, it makes you feel more in love with yourself and the ocean and the environment." has been surfing since she was seven. Now at 28, she has been the No. 1 woman surfer since she was 20.

This morning  (July 27), Moore was interviewed on the Today Show where she also called the victory a "huge moment" for her native Hawaii, where surfing is central to the culture.

"It's the best sport in the world," she told Today hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin. "I'm biased, but it's just nice to share it with a whole other stage and with a whole bigger audience. Surfing, it just brings so much joy, and I hope that people can sense that when they watch."

Watch Carissa Moore win her gold medal: