Gabriel Medina

Life and career

Born in São Sebastião, São Paulo, and raised in the city's district of Maresias, is the son of Simone Pinto Medina and Claudio de Jesus Ferreira. Medina began surfing at age 9; at 11 he won his first national championship, the Rip Curl Grom Search in the category Sub-12, held in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro.

Medina won many Brazilian amateur championships, becoming champion at the Volcom Sub-14, Quicksilver King of Groms, Rip Curl Grom Search, besides conquering the state championship three times. In California, he was second at the Volcom Internacional Sub-14, and in Ecuador, vice-champion of the Amateur World Sub-16 Championship. At 14 years old, Medina was already at the finals of the Paulista Championship, became the Paulista Junior Champion, and surfing the World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-star event Onbongo Pro Surfing 2008 in Ubatuba, where he managed to defeat his idol Adriano de Souza, aka Mineirinho.

In July 2009, Medina won a contract with Rip Curl, and thereafter endeavored to pursue a professional surfing career. Just 10 days later, Medina set a new mark as the youngest male winner of an open age pro competition by taking out the Maresias Surf International in Brazil by the age of 15 (That victory broke one of pro surfing’s longest-standing records, held by Australian Nick Wood, who won the 1987 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach as a 16-year-old).

In 2011 came the sequence of championships that took Medina to share the waves with the top surfers, surfing the WQS 6 Star Prime in Imbituba, and the two WQS 6 Star in France and Spain. He was also victorious in the Pro Junior World Championship, held in French waves. With his prowess and results in such a young age, Medina signed and extension contract with Rip Curl just in the same week of his debut on the 2011 ASP World Championship Tour, by the age of 17, by the mid-season rotation. Medina went on to finish his rookie season with two WCT events wins (Hossegor, France and San Francisco, USA), despite competing only half of the season.

In 2013, Medina went on to win the World Junior Tour (ASP) in 2013, at age 19.

In the 2014 WCT season, by winning the very first event of the season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, Medina became the first Brazilian male surfer ever to win on the Gold Coast, and also the first goofy to win this contest since 2004 and less than two months after recovering from a broken leg injury suffered while surfing in Hawaii. He dropped to 5th on the rankings after finishing 13th on the Billabong Rio Pro, but re-assumed the pole after winning the Volcom Fiji Pro. Medina also won the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, the seventh WCT event of the season in Tahiti, beating in a highly competitive final Kelly Slater. Later in the year, after finishing in 2nd place in the last event of the season at the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii, Medina went on to become the first ever Brazilian ASP World Champion by the age of 20 (the youngest since Kelly Slater did also in age 20 in 1992).

In 2015, after a sequence of average results, Medina won the Quiksilver Pro France, capturing his sixth WCT event win and his second in Hossegor, France. After beating Mick Fanning and reaching the finals at the last WCT event of the season, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii, for the second straight year, Medina once again made history, becoming the first Brazilian ever to win the Hawaiian Triple Crown of Surfing title. With Adriano de Souza winning the other semifinal later and capturing the 2015 World Title (due to Fanning's loss to Medina), the stage was set for a first time ever all Brazilian final at the Pipe Masters. Medina finished runner-up once again as de Souza became the first Brazilian ever to win the Hawaiian CT event. With this second place, Medina finished the 2015 WCT season on a high note, reaching the 3rd place.

In May 14, 2016, during the Oi Rio Pro, Medina made history once again, becoming the first surfer ever to land the move "Backflip" in competition. As a result, Medina got a perfect 10 in all five judges thus beating fellow countryman Alex Ribeiro in a 2nd round elimination heat. Medina went on to finish the competition in third place. In June 17, 2016, in the Fiji Islands, Medina won his seventh WCT event, his second in Cloudbreak, in heavy conditions. The win put him as the most victorious Brazilian surfer in the history of the CT only at the age of 22.

Surfboards

Gabriel Medina has been with his shaper Johnny Cabianca since 2008. Johnny Cabianca, a Brazilian living in the Basque Country, is one of the worlds most renowned surfboard shapers. Gabriel is using about 100 surfboards a year. Cabianca who previously shaped under the Spanish label Pukas, started his own brand in 2015. Gabriel’s first victory on a Cabianca Surfboard was the Quiksilver Pro France 2015.