{"id":47527,"date":"2014-12-22T11:30:31","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T19:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=47527"},"modified":"2014-12-22T11:58:35","modified_gmt":"2014-12-22T19:58:35","slug":"medina-wins-his-first-last-asp-world-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=47527","title":{"rendered":"Medina Wins His First & Last ASP World Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"E933Dd3D-1Eaa-45Cc-Befc-A420F4F020A3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On December 19, 2014 on the North Shore of Oahu Gabriel Medina<\/strong> became the first Brazilian surfer to ever win an ASP World Title, he also became the last. Kelly Slater<\/strong> has capped his ASP<\/strong> world title wins at 11. Neither surfer will ever win another ASP world title, because come 2015 the Association of Surfing Professionals will no longer exist. From here on in it’s the World Surf League<\/strong>. But that fact shouldn’t detract from the amazing season Gabriel Medina turned in in 2014.<\/p>\n

Medina commenced his historic 2014 season run with an impressive win on Australia’s Gold Coast before posting respectable results in Margaret River and at Bells Beach. Despite a slight stumble at home with a 13th in Rio, Medina rebounding with an emphatic win in Fiji. Medina\u2019s South Pacific form was not limited to Fiji, as the young Brazilian scored a sensational win in deadly conditions at Tahiti\u2019s Teahupo\u2019o over rival Kelly Slater (USA).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it’s wasn’t until Pipeline that Medina wrapped it all up.<\/p>\n

Posting a solid win over lethal wildcard Dusty Payne (HAW) in Round 3 of the Billabong Pipe Masters this morning, Medina successfully eliminated Slater from title contention. Fanning’s elimination in Round 5 by compatriot Alejo Muniz (BRA) sealed Medina’s fate and the capacity crowd at the beach erupted for the young Brazilian.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Congrats, Gabriel. Next year you (and the rest of the top 34) can go after your first WSL World Title.Gabriel Medina Claims Historic World Surfing Crown
\nBrazilian Takes ASP World Title at Pipeline – ASPWorldTour.com<\/p>\n

Caption: Gabriel Medina (BRA) is the 2014 ASP World Champion.
\nImage: ASP \/ Kirstin Scholtz<\/p>\n

BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu\/Hawaii (Friday, December 19, 2014) – Gabriel Medina, 20, made history today, becoming the first Brazilian to claim the prestigious ASP World Title, besting an international field of world-class athletes on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour (WCT). The young Brazilian secured his remarkable world surfing crown at the final stop of the season, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons on Oahu\u2019s North Shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the World Title was my dream and now it\u2019s reality – I\u2019m seriously shocked,\u201d Medina said. \u201cBrazil is partying right now I think. I\u2019m so thankful to be part of this, a lot of guys have tried to do this and I feel honored to be the one. I don\u2019t know why it\u2019s me but I\u2019m really happy it is and I\u2019m so proud to be Brazilian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medina commenced his historic 2014 season run with an impressive win on Australia’s Gold Coast before posting respectable results in Margaret River and at Bells Beach. Despite a slight stumbleat home with a 13th in Rio, Medina rebounding with an emphatic win in Fiji. Medina\u2019s South Pacific form was not limited to Fiji, as the young Brazilian scored a sensational win in deadly conditions at Tahiti\u2019s Teahupo\u2019o over rival Kelly Slater (USA).<\/p>\n

“Teahupo’o could have been a turning point,” Medina said. “We had serious waves and to beat Kelly (Slater) there in the Final, it made me believe that this could be my year.”<\/p>\n

Heading into the European leg, the surfing world assumed that Medina would lock up the title before the Hawaiian season, but competitive stumbles in France and Portugal were capitalized on by opponents Mick Fanning (AUS) and Slater, sending the title race to Pipeline.<\/p>\n

Posting a solid win over lethal wildcard Dusty Payne (HAW) in Round 3 of the Billabong Pipe Masters this morning, Medina successfully eliminated Slater from title contention. Fanning’s elimination in Round 5 by compatriot Alejo Muniz (BRA) sealed Medina’s fate and the capacity crowd at the beach erupted for the young Brazilian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels so amazing to win and I don\u2019t know what to say right now,\u201d said Medina. \u201cI have great support there. Alejo (Muniz) just helped me win. I just love the crowd, I love this sport, everything has paid off right. I can\u2019t wait to see the trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always look up to Kelly (Slater) and Mick (Fanning),\u201d Medina said. \u201cKelly won his first world title when I was born maybe, I don\u2019t know. Mick is an inspiration for me, I always look up to him. How he his, so focused, just how he his. Kelly is a great guy as well. I don\u2019t know man, I don\u2019t know what to say, it\u2019s my best day ever!\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s title clinching places Medina in the rarefied atmosphere of not only becoming the first Brazilian to claim the world surfing crown, but also the first 20-year-old to do so since Slater in 1992.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trained hard and did everything that I could to get here,\u201d Medina said. \u201cI worked all year to try to improve and I reached my goal. I\u2019m stoked, I just love everything! I still can\u2019t believe it, I think you guys are lying! Maybe tomorrow it will seem more real but right now I can\u2019t event think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank everyone so much for their support,\u201d said Medina. \u201cThis is a really special day, not just for me but for my family, the fans and the sport. The crowd and the fans make this all so special, so thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medina\u2019s 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP WCT Results:
\nQuiksilver Pro Gold Coast: WINNER
\nDrug Aware Margaret River Pro: 5th
\nRip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 9th
\nBillabong Rio Pro: 13th
\nFiji Pro: WINNER
\nJ Bay Open: 5th
\nBillabong Pro Teahupo\u2019o: WINNER
\nHurley Pro at Trestles: 5th
\nQuiksilver Pro France: 5th
\nMoche Rip Curl Pro Portugal: 13th
\nBillabong Pipe Masters: TBD<\/p>\n

The ASP will become the World Surf League (WSL) in 2015, delivering the athleticism, adventure and competitive drama of the world\u2019s best surfing from around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On December 19, 2014 on the North Shore of Oahu Gabriel Medina became the first Brazilian surfer to ever win an ASP World Title, he also became the last. Kelly Slater has capped his ASP world title wins at 11. Neither surfer will ever win another ASP world title, because come 2015 the Association of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47527"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47539,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47527\/revisions\/47539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}