“This is it for me travelling outside of Australia."
Julian Wilson’s protest against Gabriel Medina after their round three heat yesterday was all a little behind-the-scenes, the machinations of the appeal opaque to all but journalists sequestered in Tokyo.
Live mics snatched mutterings of “faaarrrrrk…ripped off…faaarrrrrk” etc suggesting Wilson and the Australian camp’s displeasure at the result.
Australia’s beef was Medina caught a scoring wave outside of the contest area and therefore the hammer of righteousness should play on his skull. Wilson, also sad his buzzer-beat wasn’t, as it turned out, a buzzer beater.
In a story in Australia’s national broadsheet, and titled “Aussie’s dream crushed by judges, Brazilian bias”, The Australian’s Tokyo correspondent Callum Dick writes,
Wilson confirmed the Aussie camp had launched a protest following his loss, adding the team had footage of one of Medina’s scoring waves being surfed outside of the competition bounds.
But the protest was quickly shot down by officials, who told the Aussie camp the interpretation of the ruling was simply that athletes risked not having their wave scored if they ventured beyond the competition bounds, if judges could not properly see it.
The ruling only added to Wilson’s frustration, who minutes earlier said he felt his last wave of the heat – an aerial with 30 seconds to go – was worth more than the 6.83 scored by the judges.
“It was a set wave, doubled up, a critical section – me watching (Medina) and Italo (Ferreira) getting massive scores for those all year, I thought it was significantly better than anything else I did, but it only turned out marginally (better) so I don’t know how that worked,” Wilson said.
Wilson thought he had it with the aerial at the end, fist pumping and clapping as he rode the white water back to the beach – only to be greeted with disappointment from the judges.
The 32-year-old, who prior to the Olympics confirmed he would take an indefinite break from the WSL tour to focus on family, said he wasn’t sure what was next for his surfing future.
“This is it for me travelling outside of Australia for a while. I need to prioritise myself and my family and just be there for my wife,” Wilson said.
Erik Logan’s dreams were ‘crushed’!
Congrats to Fernando for finally realizing his dream, but what’s missing from Olympic surfing are the qualities that make a lot of the Olympic events so beguiling. The “How the frick do they do that??!?!!?” aspect, which is there in gymnastics and even ping pong.
It was there in Olympic skateboarding, but not really there in the surfing.
Where do you see “Oh my God! How the frick do they do that?” on surfing?
The massive Mavericks events, the windy Jaws events, the heaving Teahupoo events and sometimes Pipeline.
Degree of Difficult I guess you would call it.
That just wasn’t there in the surfing, was it?
But surfing comps will always be a victim of conditions.
Would they hold the 400 meter hurdles on a sloppy, windy track?
Nope.
Sometimes in Olympic downhill skiing the conditions are crappy.
So Olympic skateboarding overshadowed the surfing, one reckons.
Still, pretty cool they finally got it done, 25+ years after Fernando started barracking for Los Olimpicos.
Degree of Difficulty. That’s what was missing.
Think the best thing you written here!!
No, not against Gabes
I think Julian should hire the same “crack team” of lawyers Trump hired to overturn the election results. I know Rudy Giuliani is looking for work. Is “stop the steal” trending in Australia?
“and just be there for my wife”.
do you reckon she needs jules kicking stones around the house?
He really shoulda done more research on Newy chicks
The thought of hearing Joe Turpel say ‘Olympic Silver Medalist Kanoa Igarashi’ for the next ~30 years is giving me suicidal thoughts
With Samurai bloodlines.
2020 Olympic silver medalist
Spoiled pretty boy doesn’t get what he wants, throws hissy fit. Disappointed to find no one cares.
Cry is free
Kind of like the vlog he started.
A single J-Dub woulda faired better me thinks…
Sounds like he didn’t know the rules re surfing out of the contest area. Judging has always been iffy but that’s life.
Aussie dream crushed by judges sucking off the Brazilians as per usual
That air was underscored. Gnarly section. Anyone got the highlight reel of the the air?
No height
Right score
or as BL would have said, “heighth”
Yeah agree way more critical, way heavier section than Gabs hop into the soft landing for that 7.5. There were more suss calls in this contest then I’ve ever seen including tragically watching Q’s at 4am in 1ft slop. All seemingly favouring the Brazilians. Except for the bizarre act of god where they undercooked Gabs spin into the flats against Owen?
Sour grapes ’till the last.
Fucking hell, bunch of sooks. Bad bad look.
As the instigator of the Modern Olympics , Pierre de Coubertin said ;
L’important dans la vie ce n’est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l’essentiel ce n’est pas d’avoir vaincu mais de s’être bien battu.
The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.……. “
Obviously… It’s the thought that counts! Try convincing anyone about to be sent to war that chestnut!
Travis …. Obviously he said it before WW1
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” The sentiment, “It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country,” was the rallying cry , tragically as history has discovered , for many entering into service for World War I.
The womens handball…now that’s the real deal!…x
I have been residing in THW Kiel Handball territory for a decade
A tough , fast , high scoring game …. where you can buy a real beer in a glass and drink it in the bleachers …. If you were lucky enough to have season tickets before COVID fucked that up .
You my brother, are the international man of mystery!…I tip my hat to you…May you be spat from the deepest of tubes sir!
Thanks T … Most people just refer to me as the balding old cunt who can surf but speaks many languages …. Badly .
I nearly didn’t need the translation! You were almost a condescending cunt! Next time!!!
Sorry … no condescending attitude was intended Nuts .
No no all good, just saying it would have been condescending had I not needed a little help. Hopefully next time I get to take offence!
The only thing that was going to take down Gabriel was a miracle Hail Mary Air or Italo ….
Sadly it was Kanoa and not Julian who felt the hand of god ?
Well at least companies founded in Burleigh and Torquay had team members go 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 in the men’s division …. that legacy lingers on ?