Brazil’s Gabriel Medina on Tuesday won his third surfing World Championship, beating compatriot Filipe Toledo in a new, best-of-three final format in southern Californian surf.
Not even the appearance of a 1.8m-long shark in the last heat could unsettle Medina, who qualified in the top spot for the five-man, one-day event, giving him the luxury of a direct passage to the final at Lower Trestles in San Clemente.
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, the reigning Olympic and world champion, capped a dominant year to win her fifth world title over Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb in the women’s final.
Photo: AFP
Under a new format introduced this year, the men and women ranked in the top five after seven events qualified for the one-day event at southern California’s high-performance reef break.
Medina and Toledo unleashed an array of slashing turns and progressive aerial maneuvers in the clean, overhead waves.
However, it was Medina who consistently landed the most outrageous moves — including a full backflip in the deciding heat when competition resumed after a pause following the shark sighting.
Medina, who had questioned the fairness of deciding the world champion under the new one-day format, was the form surfer of the year, ending the seven-stop world tour with two wins and three second-place finishes.
“I’m so happy,” Medina said after his win. “I’m crying right now, because there’s a lot of emotion, you know.”
Previously, world champions were decided on points accumulated throughout the year, which meant that the title race was often decided before the final.
Along with the new format, the surfers had to battle disruptions to the world tour caused by COVID-19, which caused the cancelation of a number of events after wiping out competition last year.
Medina paid credit to his compatriots on the tour, the “Brazilian Storm” who dominated this year and won the sport’s first Olympic gold medal through 2019 World Champion Italo Ferreira.
“The Brazilian guys are doing so well right now,” he said. “It feels good to push them, and they push me.”
Moore’s carves were ideally suited to Trestles’ big green walls, but she had to fight back after Weston-Webb won the first heat of the finals.
“It was a crazy back-and-forth battle. I’m so happy to fight back,” Moore said, who won her fourth title in 2019.
“No. 5 sounds pretty good,” Moore added.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Aaron Civale got a little wild in the right-hander’s first start for the Chicago White Sox two days after he was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers. Civale on Sunday walked four of the first seven hitters he faced in a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers. The 30-year-old finished with four walks, one off his career high, while allowing six hits and two runs in five innings. He threw 65 strikes and 39 balls. Chicago trailed 2-1 when he was replaced by Dan Altavilla to start the sixth. “Not the cleanest,” Civale said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a week. First couple
RSS