Finals Day Locked In At MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, Medina Makes Intentions Clear
Finals day is knocking at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal and three-time world champ and newly minted ISA gold medalist Gabriel Medina is looking to answer. After a bit of a slow start in the first two events of the 2024 WSL Championship Tour, the Brazilian goofy-footer roared to life today with a statement-making win over current world number two Jack Robinson.
Coming off of his gold-medal winning performance at the ISA World Surfing Games earlier this month, Medina started slow in Peniche, but has now clearly shifted into another gear. After blitzing through the elimination round yesterday, Medina kept building momentum, culminating with a monster, full-rotation air that the judges awarded a 9.33. Putting himself squarely into the driver’s seat going into finals day, Medina, who won at Supertubos back in 2017, is the man to beat at the moment.
“It feels good just to surf, get good waves and go with the flow,” Medina said in his post-heat interview. “I always try to mix it up, especially when you have a lot of opportunities. I found a few ramps, I tried to do a few turns as well, this board can do it all and I’m happy with my performance. I can’t wait for finals day.”
Of course, Medina will have his work cut out for him. Last year’s world title contenders American Griffin Colapinto and Australian Ethan Ewing have both been hammering away all contest. And Colapinto could enjoy a little support from his fell Californians as younger brother Crosby and Jake Marshall are set to meet in the first quarterfinal. Italy’s Leo Fioravanti and Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam could also be problematic as they’ve been surfing with a lot of commitment and passion in Europe so far. Whatever happens on finals day, the WSL Leaderboard is about to get reshuffled before the tour turns its focus on two upcoming events Down Under.
MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarterfinals Matchups
HEAT 1: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
HEAT 2: Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
HEAT 3: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)
HEAT 4: Luana Silva (BRA) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA)
HEAT 1: Jake Marshall (USA) vs. Crosby Colapinto (USA)
HEAT 2: Ethan Ewing (AUS) vs. Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)
HEAT 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
HEAT 4: Griffin Colapinto (USA) vs. Joan Duru (FRA)
World Champ Marks Sets Pace In Portugal With Blistering Backhand Barrage
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.