Gabriel Medina, Brazil
2016 Go Left World Ranking Projection: 1
2015 World Ranking: 2
2015 WCT Wins: 1
It was really a tale of two seasons for Medina in 2015. I
have to admit that a 25th and three 13ths in his first five events
last season had me scratching my head. Had he enjoyed the offseason a little
too much following his remarkable 2014 World Title season? Was 2014 an
aberration? These questions were running through my head, but really I just
thought that we had a sleeping giant on our hands with too much talent to
continue his struggles. It turns out that Medina was that sleeping giant, and a
fifth-place finish at J-Bay seemed to signal his awakening. Medina would make
at least the quarterfinals in the final six events of the season, again
resembling the wunderkind that we saw dominate in 2014.
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| Gabriel Medina could be about to embark on a run to his second World Title. Courtesy of A Scott |
You could argue that Medina is the most dangerous surfer
currently on tour. He can post 10s in so many different conditions thanks to
his versatile game. He’s probably the last guy I would want to draw in a random
heat to be surfed at a random WCT location. Medina made a name for himself
early on with ridiculous airs that a guy of his size usually can’t pull off
with such altitude and style. I think a lot of people started to think of him simply
as an aerial guy for a bit, but he’s since proven that he can turn it up in a
variety of ways in a plethora of conditions.
Medina has a ridiculous backside rail game that makes him a
serious threat in any right-heavy event, such as J-Bay, where he reached the
quarters in 2015 and started his run. Some of the backside hacks he puts on
rights are insane, and he has a smoothness and rhythm to his transitions that
yearn for big scores and are often sated by numbers in the excellent range. Before
2014, Medina’s weakness was supposedly big-wave conditions, but his win that
year in Fiji squashed that narrative pretty quickly. Just in case anyone saw
that victory as a fluke, Gabby put on a show in Tahiti and took home top honors
in some serious barrels there as well.
So to recap, Medina started the 2015 season very slowly, and
was still in World Title contention at Pipe. That’s extremely hard to do, but
the kid finished the year with a 5th, 2nd, 3rd,
1st, 5th and 2nd. If he surfs anything like
that for the duration of 2016 he will win his second World Title and make it
three straight for Brazil. I still favored Mick Fanning slightly for the crown this
season before he announced his abridged schedule, but I wouldn’t be remotely surprised to see Medina run away with
the race in the wake of Mick’s decision. I expect John John Florence to be in
the running in 2016, and that he and Medina will be battling it out for the
World Title for years to come, but I favor Medina significantly right now due
to his strategic nature in the lineup. It’s clear that Medina is a perennial
World Title threat, and should be for the next decade or so barring major
injury.
Follow Morgan, founder of Go Left, on Twitter @GoLeftSurf
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