“You are an inspiration to so many not just for the legend you are in and out of the water but how you constantly lead with your heart.”
Pro surfing is in mourning today after it was revealed the Brazilian Caio Ibelli, famous for repeatedly garrotting world champion surfers, mostly John John Florence and Gabriel Media, but also Kelly Slater, had quit the sport aged only thirty-one.
Caio Ibelli made the shock announcement in a post on Instagram.
Where to begin? Hmmmm… Lets talk surfing. Surfing grows, it’s an Olympic sport, Brazilian athletes dominate the world circuit and we’ve become a reference on the international scene, but where is our financial incentive? Being a pro surfer is being able to live off surfing. 31 years old today, I cannot put my future on the line to reinvest in something so uncertain. I’m giving up the CS position for now… you can’t invest more than 100 thousand reais to “try” to live from it again, we have bills and commitments. Guess it’s wrong to pay to work. Finally cycles open, cycles close. Will it be that time? I don’t know if this will be goodbye or see ya later but something has to change! In this time I will reconnect with my essence and find my path
View this post on Instagram
Tributes from the world’s best surfers but not, pointedly from John John Florence, Gabriel Medina or Kelly Slater, quickly mounted.
Matt McGilvray, “You’ve inspired many and I thank you for inspiring me.”
Brisa Hennessey, “Caio you are an inspiration to so many including me not just for the legend you are in and out of the water but how you constantly lead with your heart. Keep leading with your heart and everything will align.”
Adriano de Souza, “Pure reality, difficult to process all that, I hope that you are in fact happy with this decision.”
Connor O’Leary, “Congrats on all of your achievements mate! Stoked to be able to share some amazing experiences with you.”
Caio Ibelli was last seen on these pages two years ago when he risked unnatural looking results after undergoing gruesome hair transplant surgery in Brazil.
Caio Ibelli had been fighting baldness for at least five or so years, and has finally zigged where others, Slater, Julian Wilson, zagged.
BeachGrit’s connection to Caio Ibelli ran deep.
In early 2021, belli became the focal point of a unique crowdfunding initiative called Project Ibelli, spearheaded by BeachGrit and the Surf Splendor podcast, specifically through their show The Grit!. This campaign, branded as support from “The People™,” aimed to financially back Ibelli after he lost a major sponsor, Oakley, and to challenge the corporate structure of professional surfing.
Ibelli embraced the campaign, embodying the “everyman” grind. Unlike surfers with extensive support teams, he handled much of the logistics himself, resonating with fans who saw him as relatable. His competitive spirit and connection to the community (e.g., being the first pro surfer to follow BeachGrit on Instagram) made him an ideal figurehead.
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Now ibelli burger will get the attention it needs. He’s sitting on the next fast food empire and he’s wasting time out there in the waves wiggling around on his little board.
ai: Yeah, BeachGrit’s vague headline and wording definitely stirred the pot, causing confusion about Caio Ibelli’s status. It’s a classic clickbait move—sensationalizing his retirement to sound like something far worse. No solid evidence confirms Ibelli’s death; he’s likely just stepped away from pro surfing. Thanks for calling it out! If you want me to dig deeper into any specific posts or sources, let me know.
Aussie?
Dang you’re right he did ok in Hawaii but he never won a QS or CT event
In the 90’s, skate videos always had a token vert dude that would get glazed over by the colloquial vert button on the VCR remote. Fairly certain Caio is the WSL’s human vert button, never watched his heats, never will ever have to
Alyssa Quizon canceled the Flowers….
WTF is it with these surfers? Earlier today I read that Bill Murray gave a moving ulogy about Kelly Slater. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about Slater’s death so dug around to see what had happened. Only to find out he is fine and Murray gave a “living Ullogy”. Whatever that means.. Now I read that the surfing community is mourning the loss of Ibelli, with the headline reading “gone too soon at 31”. Yet he is also alive and just “retired” at 31? What the hell is with the authors of these articles?????
welcome to the shitshow that BG is !!!
my son is going to be at until he is 26 before he gets a single cent. and has to work over summer so he has some pocket money , so cry me a river baby, and tell the handballers who are world champs that you’ve been globetrotting the world doing a sport no one cares about, that it’s hard,,, apart from that , good luck with the surfschool
He also won a lot and in Hawaii
Thoughts and Slaters. Thoughts and Slaters.
Isnt it time for Kelly to ruin Caio’s moment?
So.. is he Dead or did he just quit surfing cuz like if he was dead it would be both and not just one
Yeah i want to know too as i also can’t be bothered reading the article.
Fucked up headline
Jon. This is BeachGrit.
Almost everything here is fucked up; most of all the comments.
Agreed, that the headline was wild.
Storm in an egg head cup.
Enjoy your freedom! The golden age of pro surfing is behind us! Maybe Dora was right? ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Once the drug funds ran out,that was the start of the end of pro surfing.
therein lies the problem , if every surfer was on drugs, including steroids/growth hormones/DNA manipulation….gack/Horse/shard..add a dash of green….oh wait , that was the golden era of surfing….so now we have vanilla coffee as a substitute.
All they need to do is market pro surfers like rock stars instead of athletes and kids will start wanting to dress like surfers again.
Long hair, tatts, setting boards on fire, and even if they can’t condone drug taking at least insinuate it happens.
But no, squeaky clean is the order of the day and they can’t even sell an “athlete’s jersey” unless it’s discounted.
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a supposedly fun thing I might do again … tuning my tiny violin now
I’ve had the misfortune of being in the water with Caio a handful of times. He’s a cunt, won’t be missed. I hope his burger joint works out for him.
Almost all pro surfers are cunts in the water.
It is known.
Who is Ciao ?? and what does this matter.
Ask 99.99 % of the world’s population
Seemed a bit Rusty anyways…
Jadson lite
They could chop the bottom 10 surfers off the draw and save everyone’s time.
We’ll be getting 10 more women instead.