Medina Leads Brazil To Glory, Fitzgibbons Makes History With 4th ISA Gold
In a tour de force at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, Gabriel Medina not won every single heat he surfed in on the way to an individual gold medal, he also led the Brazilian crew to team gold and earned an extra Olympic spot for his country in the process.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons showed her grit and determination as she stormed the podium on finals day to claim a record-setting fourth gold medal at the ISA World Surfing Games (both Fitzgibbons and Medina also won ISA World Junior Titles in the formative years of their careers). Fitzgibbons’ effort helped carry the Aussie squad to a team bronze medal.
In the men’s final, Medina found himself in a dogfight with Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam and France’s Joan Duru and Kauli Vaast, all of whom will be competing in the Olympics later this year. Opening the final with a 9-point ride, Medina took command early, but Boukhiam answered back with a pair of solid mid-range scores to take the lead at the halfway mark. Battling back, Medina regained control of the pole position in the dying minutes and never looked back.
“The way it went, I got really emotional,” Medina said afterwards. “Because in the middle of the heat I was like ok, maybe I need another score, because Ramzi got two bombs and I was waiting for a surprise, you know, a surprise by God, because I was thinking no way Kauli or Joan was not going to get second, but I was like whatever, I have the faith, God’s is guiding, so let’s go, let’s have fun. So I tried to have fun in the heat, don’t worry about the others. I knew my fight, there was nothing I could do other than surfing.”
Fitzgibbons’ road to the top wasn’t any easier as she fought through three heats on finals day and had to tangle with Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb and France’s Johanne Defay to take the gold. Defay jumped out to an early lead as all three women went back and forth throughout the final, but in the end, leaning into her years of ISA experience, Fitzgibbons was able to scrap into a wave that gave her enough scoring potential to turn the heat and win the event.
“Within my story I’ve had many of these moments where there’s these near misses,” Fitzgibbons said after the victory celebration. “I try to really just look at what is happening and for me to do everything I can. To win that gold medal for my country, that moment is now, and that’s all I could do in my control. I’ve learnt to roll with those and really see the beauty in them. There is disappointment there, but on the other side I just couldn’t be more stoked and that’s what I focus on.”
As a result of Brazil winning the team gold, the South American powerhouse has earned an extra Olympic spots for one more male and female competitor. Weston-Webb, Filipe Toledo and Joao Chianca all qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games via their ranking on the 2023 WSL Championship Tour. Presumably Medina will join that crew in Tahiti, a place he’s enjoyed considerable success over the years.
“It was our goal coming here to get both of those spots and we got them,” Weston-Webb said. “The team was really focused all week and we always lift each other up, and that’s what Brazil is.”
Medina, Fitzgibbons and their rivals will now shift focus as the WSL Championship Tour’s third stop gets underway in Portugal this week.
2024 ISA World Surfing Games Results
Team Rankings
Gold: Brazil
Silver: France
Bronze: Australia
Copper: Spain
Women
Gold: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
Silver: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
Bronze: Johanne Defay (FRA)
Copper: Nadia Erostarbe (ESP)
Men
Gold: Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Silver: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)
Bronze: Kauli Vaast (FRA)
Copper: Joan Duru (FRA)
Final Five Men Make The Cut For 2024 Paris Olympic Surfing
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.