“Surfing will never lose its principles for an Olympic event.”
A little before eleven this morn, the world number four João Chianca scooped a fine set at Backdoor, got a little hung in the lip, pin-dropped and…reef strike…unconscious, rescued by a local teenage hotshot.
João Chianca, who is twenty-three and the younger brother of big-wave surfer Lucas Chianca, was held underwater by multiple waves before being rescued by Eddie invitee Jake Maki.
After being stabilised on the beach by lifeguards, João Chianca was rushed by ambulance to The Queen’s Medical Centre in Honoulu where he remains in an unknown condition.
The twenty three year old who “curb-stomped” Jack Robinson to win the MEO Rip Curl Pro in Portugal nine months ago was, and probs still is depending what happens in hozzy, the gold medal favourite for Paris 2024, which is being held at Teahupoo, as you know.
As you also know, helluva ruckus in Tahiti over Paris 2024 organisers demolishing the old wooden changing tower, which has served its pro surfing master for two decades, and building a five-million dollar aluminium structure.
Yesterday, following a Paris 2024 barge tearing up a little of the coral reef, reigning gold medallist Carissa Moore added her voice to the growing clamour to either boycott the games or stop the build.
Following yesterday’s report the Olympic barge had accidentally bulldozed its way through the precious coral reef, Carissa Moore wrote:
“(Broken heart emoji) This doesn’t seem worth it.”
Now, it can be revealed that João Chianca gave hell to Paris 2024 organisers with a moving screed only hours before he was dragged unconscious from the water at Pipe.
Sharing a post from @saveteahupoo and writing in English and in his native Portuguese João Chianca wrote:
“Surfing will never lose its principles for an Olympic event. It would never make sense for surfing being an Olympic sport going against everything that this beautiful sport always stood up for. Surfers always travelled and competed around the globe respecting Mother Nature and her rules.”
More on Chumbo’s condition as we’re updated.
Chris Dixon and Frank: please email [email protected] from the address you'd like your BeachGrit login on.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
What a load of hogwash from big mouth Chianca and the ever precious Carissa. Launching large at the Olympic organizers not a good idea if you planning to go attack banzai pipeline later in the avo. He may learn to keep it shut one day but I doubt it. Like.
That video is so heavy… he was under a long time, and so close to shore. Musta been ko’d on reef. Hope he recovers quick & fully.
If I’ve said once, I’ll say it 1000 times.. Aluminium and water just don’t mix!
Surfers always travelled and competed around the globe respecting Mother Nature and her rules
lol
Yeah, there’s no way constantly flying / driving around chasing after waves to be ridden on an ever-changing quiver of toxic sleds while dressed in petrochemical suits is disrespectful of Mother Nature. Just ask Kelly or the guy heading the UN Climate Change Conference right now!
That whole thing with the barge hitting the reef. lolz. Ive crashed the little yellow papa teva boat into the reef a few times myself. not the end of the world. parrot fish eat the reef all day long!
I don’t think João has a decent grasp on average surfer behaviour
NO WAY was this an accident.
It was an incident that shows the all-powerful reach of the IOC.
They zapped him.
Zapped him with some sort of laser that slowed him down enough to blow the takeoff and get gnarlyly nailed.
Carissa should probably be very careful, and it’s doubtful anyone else will be critical about Olympic decisions now.
This was NOT accidental.
I think even kelly will come out that laser beams are coming from chem trails and the only hope for us all is stem cells or ?
Waiting patiently for the Zapruder equivalent, edited to a punk rock song and posted on tiktok.
Glad it sounds like he’ll be ok. Thoughts and prayers.
But ‘surfers always traveled and competed around the globe respecting Mother Nature’?? Uhhhh…
That’s amazing his wipeout 10 years from now was captured.
Makes perfect sense that the wsl has been silent about the tower construction now that I think about it. The wsl is probably stoked to not have to pay to replace the old tower that was falling apart and now joe and strider will have a place to sitzpinkle between heats
had to google sitzpinkle, glad I did.
WSL probably aren’t allowed to say shit because it’s not their comp (as much as they wish it was). ISF will be running if for the IOC.
They need to stop outsourcing the work. I think if they would just hire some of the local octupi and starfish to hold it in place that would go a long way to warming up to the community.
Uniform Construction Standards Sustained!
Sure, Pipe is dangerous but I’ve had so many more friends hit the bottom on social media.
And never recover!
there is blood on the tracks, blood on the face and hands…but i’m ok mama…i think it was just a minature train…the one santa brought me from season’s past…bandage me up and get me a new control panel and I’ll be as good as new.
and a helmet.
Knocked unconscious and stricken dumb.
So sad!
Send prayers, flowers, and emojis.
Dumb is a state of mind he has been in for long time.
There’s an update on Mahina Florence’s Insta account that suggests Joao’s going to be okay. There’s also a clip on there showing what looks like about 20 or so people diving into the water to try and locate him after he wiped out. Spooky and heartwarming at the same time.
Did it show Mahina at any time?
Disappointingly no and obviously that was what I was on there for.
Hope she is interviewing at vans pipe exhibition this year
Can’t wait to see the wsl whitewash their use of this structure for their own events. They will prob plant a couple endangered clams or some shit like that. They sure have remained deathly silent in the lead up to construction.
They’ll surely put a framed picture of Trestles on the wall in there, wedged between the solar inverter, dehumidifier and aircon.
Chiancapoo
João-poo