Filipe Toledo breaks Teahupoo hoodoo on spectacular opening day at Lexus Tahiti Pro

"The fear he has, of hitting himself there and really hurting himself and suffering an irreversible injury stays in his head."

It was an accidental tube, to be sure, a misstep on the takeoff erasing his speed and sending him into a gaping tube but for Filipe Toledo it was the one wave that has smashed a fear of Teahupoo that has haunted the two-time world champ since his zero-point heat there a decade ago.

(Toledo subsequently claimed his zero-point total against Italo Ferreira was due to an elbow injury. “I had a couple stitches in me and one of the nerves on my elbow got inflamed so I couldn’t put any pressure on my arm. It was super hard for me to stand up on the board,” he said.)

Timid performances followed over the following ten years and BeachGrit was there with a magnifying glass to try and kick the talented Brazilian into gear. It must be noted that BeachGrit was also there to encourage when Filipe Toledo put his foot on the gas. 

“The truth is that he is afraid of hitting the coral bottom. That is the fear he has, of hitting himself there and really hurting himself and suffering an irreversible injury. It’s something that stays in his head,” daddy Ricardo explained.

But, here, today, on a clean six-to-eight-foot day, against two of the sports wildest chargers, Italian Leo Fioravanti and Brazilian Joao Chianca, given no chance of winning and wearing an impact suit, Toledo held onto the lead, even paddle battling Chianca for a set, until the final ten minutes when his opponents’ experience at Teahupoo proved the difference. 

BeachGrit commentary was quick to praise:

“Alright, fair dig pip. Glad to see him paddle into a few. He doesn’t have to be a hellman, as long as he shows some bravery.”

Importantly,

“He tried.”