What will it mean for surfing if a tweenie girl outshines a two-time men's world champ at the world's heaviest wave?
The two-time world surfing champion Filipe Toledo is under immense pressure tonight after a twelve-year-old girl stunned surf fans by winning the trials event precursor to Teahupoo’s Lexus grand slam.
Teahupoo local Kelia Mehani Gallina, a twelve year old who operates her socials under the @missteahupoo handle, will now face tour leader Molly Picklum in her opening heat when the contest starts in August, a scenario the kid says is a “dream.”
Gallina caught her first wave at Teahupoo when she was four, giving her eight years experience at a joint that is easily the heaviest on tour. The kid gets legit lightly slouched stand-up tubes and she ain’t afraid to grab a rail and weave through a stretched-out cone, if you’ll allow a brief detour into the wonderfully performative dialect of the great Vaughan Blakey and Jedaum Smith.
This win, and the recent performance of seven-year-old Uriah Anchor there, means Filipe Toledo, who has been flummoxed by Teahupoo for over a decade, will now be under an extraordinary weight to perform.
Toledo, you’ll remember, was in the running for a shock gold medal at the Olympics last year, even clocking an almost perfect ride while the surf remained small.
However, his hopes of glory were shattered when the surf got a little bigger and he threatened to reprise his famous zero-point heat total there.
Thoughts, prayers etc.
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