World’s greatest shade artist Kelly Slater paints masterful portrait as Filipe Toledo wins maiden title: “He didn’t need to go out and hurt himself at Teahupo’o on a big day. He’s No. 1 in the world. No matter what he’s coming to Trestles!”

150 shades of grey.

Filipe Toledo is your 2022 World Champion, on the men’s side, and bravo to he with much congratulations drizzled on top. His reputation as the greatest small wave surfer alive, maybe in history, cemented. He laid waste to a resurgent Italo Ferreira in the best of three final final, “putting his foot on his neck,” according to Joe Turpel, which seemed graphic coming out of such a sublimely positive mouth.

The anchor in the room, of course, the one Toledo dropped on an exceptional day in Tahiti, refusing to paddle while jaw-droopingly epic waves pumped, two elderly gentlemen trading them with looks of sheer joy spreading across their wizened faces. JP Currie wrote, in typically fine form, “Call me old-fashioned, but I feel that our world champion should be a surfer we believe has the capacity to win at any stop on Tour. Filipe Toledo is not that surfer, and yet here we are. I’ve no wish to belabour this point. Toledo’s history and sub-par performances at some of the world’s most iconic waves are well documented by now, to the point that it’s become trite to point it out. If he hasn’t progressed, that’s on him.”

And true.

Toledo is champion fair and square, playing to the rules of the game if not its spirit.

It is unnecessary to continually revisit, now that it’s over, rude even and boring except both the World Surf League and brown-nosed surf media seem extra sore about it. The WSL went out of its way to declare him the “undisputed” champion. Has any previous victor necessitated the preamble? Stab added the caveat that Toledo is finally and “deservedly” so while quoting the great Kelly Slater, who just so happened to be in the booth calling the action alongside Turpel and Mick Fanning.

Speaking of Toledo’s Tahiti lack of performance, Slater declared, “I don’t know if he was nervous or worried about the World Title ahead, who knows what’s going on in your mind in that position. He didn’t need to go out and hurt himself at Teahupo’o on a big day. He’s No. 1 in the world. No matter what he’s coming to Trestles. He looked really down on himself after that heat. I said ‘Dude, you’re going for a World Title. Don’t worry about this week at all. Go have fun, go win the title at Trestles.’”

Kelly, it must be noted, was one of the aforementioned elderly gentlemen with look of joy.

Now, the World Surf League team had refused to mention Toledo’s Tahiti crumble while it was happening, refused to mention it in the lead up to Final’s Day, refused to mention it until Slater did but Slater, lest anyone forget, is an absolutely masterful shade artist, the best to ever paint in shadows of grey. While Toledo was about to win it all, Slater planted this right back in the surf fan’s head.

He and his employee having fun while the soon-to-be World Champ trembled.

Kelly Slater the undisputed and deserved back-hander of all-time putting Novak Djokovic to shame.

David Lee Scales and I broke down the Final’s Day action, format, feeling from the cobbled stone and behind the screen. It’s a long time until Pipeline. Relive once more here.