A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

High-flying, preternaturally talented goofyfoot pro from Sao Paulo; 2014 world champion; the first surfer from Brazil to win a WCT title. "His career path has of similarities to big names in soccer, like Neymar," SURFER wrote in late 2014. "But now Medina has a title that slipped through Neymar’s hands in the last World Cup. That is why Medina is bigger than surfing in Brazil."

Medina was born (1993) in Maresias, began surfing at age nine, and was competing in national junior events two years later. In 2009, at 15, he became the youngest surfer in history to win a World Qualifying Series event after defeating 32 year-old tour veteran and fellow Brazilian Neco Padaratz at the Maresia Surf International. Medina qualified for the WCT midway through the 2011 season and won the first event he entered, the Quiksilver Pro France, at age 17; one month later he took out the Rip Curl Pro Search event in San Francisco, defeating Kelly Slater in the semis and tour vet Joel Parkinson in the final. Two wins in his first three starts—it was the fastest start in pro tour history. Still, because he came on tour at the halfway point, Medina only managed to finish the year ranked 12th.

An electrifying aerialist, Medina lands complicated air maneuvers with unusual ease, and often strings together two, three, even four such moves on the same wave. His rail work and degree of power got steadily better with each passing year. As a competitor, Medina has nerves of steel, and understands the finer points of competition better than even the cagiest of old-timers; he out-hustles opponents and well as out-surfs them. “He’s just a complete badass competitor,” American rival Kolohe Andino told ESPN.

Because of Medina's lightning-quick ascension on the international stage as a rookie, and because he spoke little English, fellow pros initially didn't quite know what to make of the slender dark-haired Brazilian phenom, with many dismissing him as a small-wave wizard. “He’s the kind of guy who can turn shit into gold,” Parkinson told

 magazine, a bit peevishly, after the 2011 San Francisco Search event. A few weeks later, Medina made the quarterfinals in big, thumping surf at the Pipeline Masters, and from that point on it was hard to find anybody in the surf world who didn't consider him a serious world title contender.

Injuries slowed Medina down in 2012 and 2013. He didn't win an event either year, and finished, in order, 7th and 14th.

In 2014, Medina moved from contender to world champ after a dominating season in which he won three contests (the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, the Fiji Pro, the Billabong Pro Tahiti), and finished fifth or better in eight of eleven events. At the season-ending Pipe Masters event, Medina clinched the world title just before his quarterfinal heat began. He rode a wave in as the heat started, celebrated on the beach for 15 minutes, then calmly paddled back out to dispatch fellow Brazilian Filipe Toledo en route to a runner-up finish.

For a small but vocal minority of American and Australian surfers, Medina's win was downplayed. Comment boards were filled with sometimes-vitriolic and often baseless comments about Medina's style, his hyper-competitiveness. Race and class likely factored in. "The WCT is a painfully middle-class affair," Ali Klinkenberg of Beach Grit magazine pointed out in early 2015. "White Aussies, Americans and a sprinkling of Saffas [South Africans] from well-to-do homes dominate the line up. The Brazilian contingent brings some much-needed diversity to the tour. What’s not to love? It’s a New Year and a new start. Open your pasty hearts to the Brazilian storm. It’s coming to add colour to your meager lives whether you like it or not. I’m more than happy for Gabby to be leading the charge."

 magazine listed Medina on its "100 Most Influential People in the World" list.

Medina, Gabriel

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint

Videos