BeachGrit prescient.
In a move that will reverberate through the beginning of the World Surf League’s 2022 season, it has just been announced that 2021’s defending champion, Brazilian Gabriel Medina, has officially withdrawn from the Billabong Pro Pipeline Masters which opens in mere days.
“The past few months have been a difficult time for me personally and it has taken a toll,” said Medina. “As such, I’ve decided to withdraw from the start of the 2022 WSL Championship Tour. I had every intention of competing for the full season, had made all the preparations medically (I took my COVID vaccination during my holidays) and mentally and physically, but I’m not in a place where I believe I can perform against the world’s best surfers right now and I need to focus on my well-being. I don’t know how long it will take, but I aim to return to the Championship Tour as soon as I am ready. I very much appreciate everyone’s ongoing love and support. I’ll be back when I am able. Love.”
“The health and safety of our athletes is of the utmost importance, and we fully support Gabriel’s decision to prioritize his well-being,” said Erik Logan, WSL CEO. “We want to put the world’s best surfers in front of our fans to start the season, but we certainly respect his decision. We’ll obviously miss having our reigning World Champion at the 2022 CT kick-off at the Billabong Pro Pipeline, and we will be here to welcome him back when he’s ready.
“Gabriel is our number one surfer and we will do anything to help him return to his best personally and professionally,” said Rip Curl Chief Marketing Officer, Neil Ridgway. “For many world champion sportspeople the pressures of winning at the highest level are great and the Olympics and WSL Championship Tour are tough crucibles to thrive in. We have seen the ups and downs with many of our finest World Champion surfers and we support Gabriel 100% in his plan to recover in full and be ready to rumble later in the WSL season. We would also like to say to his many fans that it’s ok to reach out for help if you are struggling physically and mentally and seek help from the many organizations across the world, which have really come into focus during the pandemic. The other thing to do is surf more. The ocean is a great healer and we know Gabriel will be out in the lineup as part of his recovery. We wish him well.”
Medina will be replaced by Caio Ibelli (BRA) at the 2022 Billabong Pro Pipeline.
Logan and co. could have planned better for this outcome had they listened to the advice of BeachGrit’s Derek Rielly who, four months ago, declared that Medina was likely to sit out for the whole season.
How does this make you feel, the defending champ taking a potential year off at the height of his prowess?
Caio Ibelli back for more?
Interesting days.
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Anyone knows why Gabe dropped out?the message is pretty vague
Leticia Bufoni out here dropping Nukes On Yasmin Last time we seen the Skater Girl she was Helping Italo work out she took time on twitter to drop a Bomb saying “Yeah… The Giant woke up… in reference to the 2 love birds split looks like the skater girl sees an opening where is Derek I need his legwork on this story
Thanks Stab would have probably charged for the news
Until he saves someone from drowning he’s not on Mikey Wright’s level.
Some ‘surf journalist’ should ask all Gabby’s sponsors what they’d do if he came out gay and why. I bet his fear is losing his livelihood for some BS he can’t control. It’s 2022 ffs. Who cares if Gabs is into dudes and has a sham marriage. It has zero to do with surfing. If WSL had integrity it would support its top athlete.
The irony is that a gay 3x world champ with family problems would do wonders for a mainstream sport. But in surfing we’re a bunch of close minded bitches.
This has a 100% to do with his Brazilian roots and with his Brazilian roots and finding out there was only one other person in the heat. Not enough people to drop in on
If pipe is properly on, like you see in videos ( which it never is for the comp) John would be superior. Not to take anything away from Gab who has beaten John in very good, heavy waves (including pipe) multiple times. But nobody is better than John at pipe when it is firing, you would struggle to find a pro surfer who would not agree with that.
This is one of many withdrawals that Gabe will request.
He already said at the end of last season, that he wanted to take a year off, away from competitions.
You can expect a lot more absences from him this year, if not the entire year.
Should have given the wildcard to Wiggolly
Like rats from a sinking ship so are surfers from the wsl.
Medinamaste at home
The Wiggles take 2022 hottest 100 and now this, what a wild ride 2022 has been.
Bieber 2nd
Generation kook
Rip Curl team seems to struggle with mental health/well being a lot. What gives?
The Champ replaced by The People’s Champ, Ibelli will take out JJF on the finals and acai bowls will be thrown at him mid crowning celebration.
Based on this development….
URGENT RAPID FIRE UPDATED BEACH GRIT PRE-SEASON POWER RANKINGS!:
35. Joao Chianca
Someone had to be here.
34. Lucca Mesinas
Have only watched videos of him going left.
33. Liam O’Brien
Irish sounding named, Australian Rook who got some ‘CT experience last year at Rottnest, where he surfed ra… he surfed. Joey said something like he wanted to be a physicist or something, which would be great, squaring up his surfing ability with his profession. Too harsh? Of course, but the only other thing I could think of to say about him was something about the potato famine and him having to survive the time eating a steady diet of rats and nettles, which is all he could muster…
32. Jake Marshall
Who was the last decent ‘CT’er from San Diego County? Taylor Knox? Machado? He’s neither of them.
31. Callum Robson
Husky dude with flailing arms, which I could see the judges not penalizing, but also not getting into.
30. Jackson Baker
Looks like a thumb. Like other Tour thumbs before him (StuKen, Adam Melling, Drew Courtney), he’ll end the year lowly rated (probably cut), forced to requalify via the Challenger Series.
29. Jadson Andre
Charges and seems like a cool guy. Rank style, but like that he’s on Tour. Hopefully he can do better than this (not make the cut, mind you, but maybe be near it).
28. Connor O’Leary
Had a good rookie year, but hasn’t been able to get it together on Tour. Kinda hoping he doesn’t, it being pretty funny to read Bicko rave about him when he’s doing shit.
27. Caio Ibelli
Replacement surfer for Gabe. Thank God he’s not Mikey Wright, who if still around I’d rank dead last, easily.
26. Owen Wright
Ranked this highly for the Bronze in Japan and Pipe.
25. Carlos Munoz
Costa Rican Kelly Slater or something. DLS thinks he’s great. Don’t know, as my skills at rating surfers, as should be apparent, is negligible.
24. Miguel Pupo
Thing 1 will probably end up rated low.
23. Ryan Callinan
Hurt and I forgot about him.
22. Zeke Lau
Might want to try boosting his median heat score above 11, where he has generally been on Tour, otherwise we’ll see him have to Challenger Series again. Not everyone can be a Top-20 surfer.
21. Imaikalani deVault
Don’t know much about him. Looks like he rips. Hopefully better than the second coming of Roy Powers.
20. Samuel Pupo
Younger brother to Thing 1… that’s all I got.
19. Ethan Ewing
Andy reincarnate he’s not. Still waiting to see what all the hype was/is about.
18. Deivid Silva
Nice backhand attack. Should be plenty of rights to keep him on Tour.
17. Nat Young
Freckled face devil spawn from Santa Cruz, hopefully Natty breaks out and ends the year higher than this, if only to have people get frustrated and use him of an example of someone who is overrated by judges. Like Daeiouiavid, should be plenty of rights for him to stay on.
16. Leonardo Fioravanti
Leo is blah. Would be way cooler to learn that he had brothers names Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo.
15. K-Hole Andino
Still looking for that elusive first win… will probably still be waiting. Rated lowly due to me needing to place him somewhere.
14. Kanoa Igarshi
2021 was a year of semi-fulfilled opportunities for Mr. Japan, him having placed in the Top-10 and winning Silver at the Olympics. Bet he was wishing to do more. The chance to becoming a global superstar could dwindle if he does poorly early. If that happens, we can only wish that we’d witness a claim from him where he screams and punches himself in the face for all of us.
13. Conner Coffin
Surprise Top-5 finalist. Looking for him to fall back a little bit, but should remain on Tour, entertaining all the folks with his Live Musical Performance at Trestles brought to you by Fermensch Kombucha and b-Vibe Butt Plugs, where he will perform his version of Steal My Kisses to a bunch of zealous OC white people.
12. Frederico Morais
Seems about right. Not a Top-fiver (I was hoping through Barra that he’d somehow qualify for the Final at Trestles), but judges like his surfing.
11. Seth Moniz
10. Jack Robinson
Seth and Jack should benefit from better waves on Tour this year, rather than having to surf garbage Australian beachbreaks all year. Would have put Jack higher, except I can’t trust that he’s going to be able to put everything together. Barra was encouraging last year and hopefully not an anomaly, but… nothing.
9. Morgan Cibilic
What a year 2021 ended up being for Little Morgan: a Top-5 finish! A surprising performance for not really going to the air. Like compatriot Liam, Morgan surfs simply, feasting on a diet of cutbacks, off-the-tops, and bottomturns, which are not a move. Unlike Liam, Morgs rips, really sinking his teeth into waves, devouring them as if he were sampling his favorite willow or maple bark. Rated lower than he placed last year just because.
8. Griffin Colapinto
Griff finished just outside the Top-5 last year because he boofed Barra. No matter, he would’ve been pulverized by Fil or Gabe anyway. Well-rounded and seemingly never suffering from constipation, Griff could do really well this year, so well that this ranking might be criminal by year’s end, but the people ahead of him have other things going for them…
7. Yago Dora
“Thing 2 would like to clarify that just because he wears the number 2 does not imply in any way that he’s inferior to Thing 1.” He’s better.
6. Jordan Michael Smith
“This is Jordy’s year!” -Everyone, every year.
Still, getting older, I can see the judges breaking down enough for him to get his own Joel Parkinson Lifetime Achievement Award Title.
5. Gabriel Medina
Before opting out of Pipe, Gabe ranked Number 1 in these rankings (still, he probably should), but has been bumped down a little based on the uncertainty around when he is coming back. His surfing has always been more important in a jersey than outside of it, so it is a little disorienting to know that he will not be competing. Still, let’s hope he gets back and smites everyone down to re-claim his throne.
4. Italo Ferreira
Easily the most exciting surfer on Tour, Ike could prove to be a big beneficiary of Gabe dropping off Tour. The absence of a clearly superior Gabe in barreling, hollow lefts, while probably boosting backsiders, could potentially make Ike’s surfing more appealing to the judges, as he will be the preeminent goofy on Tour with no real comparison on Tour. Without being compared to Gabe, Ferreira will look better.
3. John John Florence
If these rankings were based only on skill and ability, JJF would rank first, easily. At full-strength, as we saw in 2017 and the first half of 2019, John John is nearly unbeatable. Unfortunately, despite his focus on wellness and fitness, he appears to be injury prone, missing time each of the last three seasons due to a broken body. If only the Whoop slap bracelet could keep your knees from exploding…
2. Kelly Slater
Based purely on the amount of discussion he evokes around himself and whatever else the fuck he wants to talk about, Kelly is the most important surfer in the world. Unfortunately, potentially missing the Australian events, we might not see Jimmy too long on Tour this year in the water. No matter, that probably just means we’ll get to see more of that bulbous snout on-screen as part of the call-ins during the contests for faded pros, which Kelly is not, least of all in his own mind.
1. Filipe Toledo
The 2022 World Champion of the Finals at Lower Trestles.
Imaikalani deVault really does rip – wouldn’t be surprised if he’s rookie of the year.
Come on send this in. It’s not a comment!
Like your take on Seth Moniz.
Quality
Comprehensive KvF
This is 10x better than any article Beach Grit has ever published. Only Lewis Samuels does these better.
The delicious irony of Caio replacing Gabby is almost too much.
…”help him return to his best personally”…
…”we support Gabriel 100% in his plan to recover in full”…
…”it’s ok to reach out for help”…
…”we know Gabriel will be out in the line-up as part of his recovery”…
Interesting choice of words from the Rip Curl marketing man.
The type of words used when referring to someone who has a major problem with heroin and/or cocaine use etc.
Interesting choice of words indeed…
thought surf was a antidepressant activity…
You can’t script this…