Gabriel Medina was Born in São Sebastião, São Paulo, and raised in the city’s district of Maresias. He is the son of Claudio de jesus Ferreira and Simone Pinto Medina. Gabriel Medina started surfing at age 9, and at just 11 years old he won his first national championship.
Amongst his achievements to date is being the youngest athlete to win the World Junior Tour (ASP). He did this at age 15, and at present he’s the youngest Brazilian to enter the WSL , putting him in the top 34 surfers on the planet.
Here’s what Shane Dorian had to say about Gabriel Medina:
Gabriel Medina has more haters than any surfer I can think of. I can’t believe the amount of shit talking that has been aimed at this kid. A kid who is 20 years old and beat Kelly fair and square in the final at giant Teahupoo
Gabriel Medina Surfing North Shore Hawaii
Gabriel Medina has countless Brazilian amateur championships, including champion at the Quicksilver King of Groms, Rip Curl Grom Search and the Volcom Sub-14, alongside winning the state championship three times.
In sunny California, he placed 2nd at the Volcom International under 14, and in Ecuador, vice-champion of the Amateur World under 16 Championship. At only 14 years old, Medina cemented his place in the finals of the Paulista Championship, and surfing the World Championship in Ubatuba, in which he defeated his idol Adriano De Souza.
Back in July 2009, Gabriel Medina won a contract with Rip Curl, giving him a dream start to his professional surfing career. Only ten days later, he won a stage of the World Championship
From that point until 2011 Gabriel Medina delivered consistently solid results that took him to the top 10 and saw him surfing the WQS 6 Star Prime in Imbituba, and the two WQS 6 Star in France and Spain. In France he won the Pro Junior World Championship and he was the first Brazilian to win the Australian Backside on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Gabriel Medina is an Aerial Genius
After an incredible performance that won him the Quiksilver Pro on Gold Coast, Gabriel Medina hit the number 1 ranking, but he dropped to back 5th shortly after losing at the Billabong Rio Pro in 2014. This was a short lived setback and after winning the Fiji Pro he was back in the top spot.
As we all know later in 2014, Gabriel Medina went on to give the Brazilian’s their first WSL World Champion and all by the age of 20, which also on par with Kelly Slater who won at 20 years of age in 1992. So far this year hasn’t been the best for Gabriel Medina, but I wouldn’t write him off just yet.
