It started after 2014.
We give you the 2014 world champion, Gabriel Medina.
For the first time a Brazilian surfer has won the world title.
After that, everything changed.
Gabriel is like a brother to me.
Everything.
Gabriel Medina!
The win transforms Gabriel Medina
into a Brazilian sporting hero.
Brazil, they saw me doing this,
and they started believing they can do as well.
Filipe Toledo…
The most dangerous competitor on the world tour.
The sport in Brazil was growing, streaming on television.
What a performance from Toledo!
They were just like, "Brazilian Storm, Brazilian Storm, Brazilian Storm."
And Brazilian Storm is pretty much a group of surfers
that's been winning every event.
Your 2015 world champion is Adriano de Souza.
Tatiana Weston-Webb comes off the bottom.
Throws buckets of spray.
I think the Brazilians are for sure taking it to the next level,
and everyone's trying to catch up.
America and Australia have dominated forever.
But now, it's a changing of the dynasty.
Get ready for your eardrums to be exercised,
because this man has just claimed his second World Title.
I was so hungry for that first World Title, you know?
Because I saw him.
Two years after, and I had a chance to win.
Gabe had a huge lead.
I think a lot of people thought he would've just breezed through that,
and then he, like-- He went to another level again.
Two consecutive completions with-- Hey!
…to finish!
It was one of the greatest days of surfing I've ever seen.
Thank you, Lord!
Ítalo Ferreira, your 2019 world champion.
In terms of rivalry,
Gabi versus Ítalo is, like, as big as it gets.
I do this because you're on the tour.
I try to do my best every day.
Gabriel Medina and Ítalo Ferreira are completely different people.
You would rarely find them at the same dinner table.
They are the best in the world, and they are not holding back.
My name is Gabriel Medina.
I'm 13 years old
and I live here in Maresias.
My stepdad gave me my first board.
He used to surf, and he had this surf shop.
When I was nine, my stepdad ask of me, like,
"What do you wanna do for life?
Do you like surfing?"
I was like, "Yeah, I wanna be a professional surfer.
That's what I want."
So many guys that I want to thank, my dad especially.
And since that,
he did everything that he could for me to reach my goal in life.
I'm gonna have a beer.
Today I'm allowed to.
Do you want to come over here?
You go ahead.
But congratulations to you.
Oh, yes!
Good news!
-Thanks. -Gabi hoped.
Actually, you won't even know!
So this morning,
me and Yasmin got married.
You got married this morning?
We did. Yeah.
Thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you.
I'm so happy for you.
Every Brazilian girl's heart just broke.
Except for one.
When did you propose?
A few days ago, in Waikiki.
It's like
just another victory
that we will remember forever.
Big news this week regarding Medina's departure
from his long-term coach, and his stepdad, Charlie Medina,
that has allegedly been as a result of a riff in the family.
Gabriel Medina's marriage to model Yasmin Brunet
has reportedly caused a falling out with his mum and stepdad.
Some people think that I'm just gonna end his career.
And he is gonna be unfocused.
All my life, I used to travel and training and live
the way my parents wanted me to live.
And that was my comfort zone, you know?
Home sweet home.
And I want my house. I want my car.
I wanna pay my bills. I wanna have my wife.
Thanks.
But not having my mom and stepdad here to support me--
You know, like, it's really hard.
It's hard.
It's hard to come out of a comfort zone.
There's more chance to go wrong than go right.
But, yeah, I'm so glad I had someone besides me
to keep me positive, you know.
I wish I had his way of thinking.
-You got a way. -He's so, like, centered.
Yeah, I mean, as long as you're ha-- you're happy, that's good enough.
You can't talk about women as we have microphones on.
I can because I owe nothing to no one.
My name is Ítalo Ferreira
I am 26 years old.
My favorite part of competing?
It's trying to be the best surfer in those 30 minutes.
I feel good when I go really early.
I can say my prayers.
Shall I film from here?
From the top.
Oh, yeah. Let's go.
I live in Baía Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Ítalo!
It's a small town. Around 9,000 people.
My dad sold fish to restaurants.
I started surfing on the polystyrene cover
of the box my father used to keep his fish in.
Then I started to compete regionally, in Northern Brazil.
I started to win motorbikes and airline tickets,
and I realised that the harder I worked
the more prizes and money I could earn to help back home.
Every time you see Ítalo he's having fun, no matter what.
In the water, he's singing by himself.
I mean, this is his world.
This is what makes him happy.
And he has to be happy to make what he-- what he wants the most.
He wanna make history.
What are you going to cook with the couscous?
Eggs.
Have we only got eggs?
We have sausages too.
But sausages take longer.
Do it with eggs only then.
I'm traveling with Marcos, who is my childhood friend.
He's the guy who does everything.
He drives, he cooks.
He takes care of my financial life, my personal life.
Does he show his appreciation for the work you do?
He's-- He's gonna kill me, but no.
But I think Ítalo changed my life.
I get to know a lot of place that I-- I couldn't imagine to travel with--
You know, being with one of the best surfers in the world.
Damn, I haven't even logged onto Instagram yet.
Gonna check it now.
There's only women on my timeline.
Women, women!
Ítalo's transformation's been interesting one,
and I think Gabriel followed a similar path.
You start winning World Titles,
and you need to protect yourself.
Ítalo's traveling with his close friend.
It'd be an amazing feeling for him.
I think he'd be feeling like he's traveling with his brother.
I think we've been here before.
Gorgeous, believe in it.
You're on the right way, I'm sure.
I didn't wanna go to Australia at first.
I didn't wanna travel and think about competition.
I just wanna stay home.
And yeah, people close to me--
Like, they made me go.
Do you think they can hear us?
Guys, if you're listening, we're lost.
And I don't know how you guys are gonna find us.
I knew that we had to go to take his mind off things,
that it was his career, that it was his dream,
that he didn't, like--
He couldn't just give that up for anything.
Holy Mary.
And then he wanted to go with someone,
and he loves Mick, so I'm like,
"Message Mick Fanning, yeah, and ask him to kind of 'coach' you."
Gabe rang me, and he's like,
"I'm coming to Australia just with my wife, and could you help me?"
And I'm like, "Look, I would love to,
but I've got my own family I've gotta be there for, and--"
"But I can point you in the right direction of some good guys."
Gorgeous, I think we've arrived.
Gave Kingy a call and just connected them together.
Mick just goes, "Gabi…"
He says, "He's looking for a coach, and he's a real good kid.
Would you do it?"
There are nearly 25 years I've been rolling with Mick,
'cause he just knows.
So, for me, it's an honor.
You can surf here? I see two waves right here.
Good ones.
King is extremely loyal.
He's extremely passionate, and he's not gonna back down to anyone.
I'm just saying, like, when the water starts
-to run off that shelf… -Yeah.
…that's when you can kind of peak it, like, where--
So it's not all washing through the lineup and making it surge.
Yeah, yeah. I was thinking maybe get, like, a few.
-Just one more up, like, down here. -Yeah.
Then do some turns,
and then I would try, like, get barrels there.
-Exactly, like-- -True. True. I--
But I'm just gonna take my ear-- cochlear off.
-Okay. -It's 'cause I'm deaf.
-Okay. -Just sign language.
-Yeah, okay. -Sign language is just like that.
Yeah. With the hands.
As you can see, I'm part robotic.
I'm half-machine. I got two cochlears.
I've been in the game since I was about five years old.
I just absolutely love and am obsessed with surfing.
And I had the two highest wave total in Newcastle
a week before this accident happened.
His skill on a surfboard seemed
to guarantee him a golden future doing the thing that he loved most.
Then I was celebrating in the club.
Yeah, it was a bunch of football players, about eight guys,
and there was no dramas inside the club.
And we walked outside, and then they started yapping.
I just glazed over.
Went across the street and, yeah,
ended up getting the shit kicked out of me.
My head hit the gutter, and it smashed my skull.
And I smashed both my equilibriums.
I've lost 95% of my hearing.
My left ear's completely shot.
Like, I could be doing 100 down a freeway, and I wouldn't even feel a breeze.
Along with his hearing, Andy has lost his balance.
Without that, he may never surf professionally again.
I didn't achieve what I wanted to achieve.
And I don't want that to happen to anyone.
I wanna make sure that they're completely content,
and they can take what they've got out of their surfing
and bring it to aspects of their whole life.
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup,
here in the beautiful country of Australia,
as the World Surf League Championship Tour continues with stop number two.
-Awesome. Sure, thank you. -Thanks.
-Hi, guys. -Good morning.
Happy Finals Day.
It's all about today to crown our champions
at the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup.
What are you thinking?
-I think-- -Any white?
-Yeah, I mean-- -White foam.
Yeah, there are waves, but it's not--
I don't feel it's, like-- it's good, you know? Look.
But look how flat it is out there, mate.
Yeah, it's pretty flat.
Surfing is all about being able to adapt to different waves.
On smaller, more impacting shorter waves like Newcastle,
people really get to show their big airs or committed turns.
Combining major maneuvers is more difficult when it's smaller,
and once they really do that,
that's where we're looking at big scores.
Anyone's fooling you if they say
that they're coaching someone that's that skilled and that talented.
I guess it's more like a caddy.
It's just watching the ocean from dawn to dusk
and figuring out where the most opportunity is.
Fuck.
What we're doing is basically just trying to stack the odds in his favor.
Come on. Just give him a fucking opportunity, man.
Just something with some shape.
-Five, four, three, two, one. -We're good.
But I almost threw up, seriously.
Looks like Gabriel Medina will be rolling into the semifinals.
Coming up next, the reigning world champion.
Semifinal number one. All Brazilian.
Thirty-five-minute heats. Scoring their top two waves.
In front of Ítalo,
flowing quickly down the line on the windup. He threw a reverse.
He's got the speed. Ítalo. Finds a crazy lip.
I try to catch as many waves as possible.
The more waves I catch, the more waves I break.
I will improve all my scores during the heat,
leaving my opponent suffocated.
Is there any kind of sign that he should slow down a bit?
'Cause he's-- he's not at all.
Ítalo's just 10,000 revs per minute.
He's just redlining.
Since he won the World Title,
he's just poured a few extra more Red Bulls in
and taken it up to here.
And full rotation for Ferreira.
Filipe Toledo on the next one, looking for the answer.
There's that first turn off the top. Toledo.
Is that enough to hold off a rampaging Ítalo Ferreira?
I had one of my sponsors ask me,
"And now that you have been a world champion, what do you want?"
Oh, my goodness!
Almost into a little tube, if you don't mind.
I didn't think twice.
I said, "I want to continue. I want to win more."
Running out of time for Filipe Toledo.
Ítalo completely dominated. Makes it in the final.
Keep going.
Ítalo's energy levels
are like something we've never seen before.
And I think a lot of us are wondering how long it can last.
The knot has broken.
He deserves every win he gets,
but if someone wants to challenge him and ruffle his feathers,
I think he's breakable.
This is the dark knight himself, Gabriel Medina.
Big, lively flow. Look at that blast.
Well, they want a star.
He's an acrobat.
And he can win from so many different places.
Most people would have to be on the best waves,
and they'd have to have a wave that suit their strengths.
Gabi and those top title contenders don't need to be sitting,
waiting for perfection.
Gabriel Medina going up against Morgan Cibilic.
Looks like he's gonna park it. He is. Look at this.
Oh, my goodness.
Gabe's ruthless.
He gets to a point where he gets comfortable in a heat,
and then he just kicks into another gear and just sends it even higher.
Big frontside and reverse for Gabriel Medina.
That was one of the loftiest things I've ever witnessed in pro surfing.
I love to get into psycho mode.
What was that?
That's how I feel 100%. And that feeling's untouchable.
Yeah, I couldn't beat the storm.
But… Oh, well. Gave it a red hot crack.
We're going to have an Ítalo-Medina final.
Well done. So happy for him.
If it gets too soft out there and too straight…
Yeah.
…maybe this rip will come to life. You know?
When-- When the water rushes out the last hour of the tide.
You can see it ruffling now.
My leg was hurting.
I was almost getting a tube on the left side!
And then I fell back like this.
Well done, kid.
Right on bro, thank you.
So, I know it goes without saying.
Watch these two guys.
You know that when it comes,
there's gonna be jostling or aggressive hassling for the waves.
I know how to surf.
I dedicated my life to it,
so I just have to enter the heat and do what I know.
I think Ítalo's really focused on proving to everybody
that his World Title wasn't just lucky.
He is one of the guys that takes me out of my comfort zone.
When I have a heat against Ítalo,
you can't do something wrong because the competition's on.
This is what you've been waiting for.
-Thank you. -Performance. Enjoy, brother.
Gabriel Medina with a lot on the line to get a third World Title.
First time he's actually stepped out of the family
and worked with an outside coach.
Let's go, Ítalo. Let's go, Ítalo.
Okay, let's go.
There's so much feeling between 'em. This is a true rivalry.
Brazil! Brazil! Brazil! Brazil!
There's a big vertical turn from Medina.
Into the top again.
Ítalo with the answer.
And he's just gotten a speed turn.
Beautiful carving maneuver.
Lands it.
Really fast landing. Section solid.
As judges, we look at speed.
We wanna see surfers that, as soon as they stand up,
they're going fast,
and have speed going into the next section.
It's eliminating the stop-start of their surfing.
-Wow. -Where did that come from?
Are you kidding me? Bang.
Ítalo has taken the lead,
but very slenderly.
Super close between the two Brazilians.
Speeding up. Looking for the full rotation.
Again! Back-to-back.
Ítalo kind of feels to be trying to steal the energy
and momentum of this heat quickly.
Here he goes.
Looks like he's got the speed.
Going for the alley-oop.
Had the landing gear out but just stopped.
Ítalo Ferreira holding on to that slender lead.
This is on a knife-edge.
Medina, with five seconds,
gets into this wave.
Needs a 6.34. Lot of foam on the face.
He's got to surf it all the way to the beach.
Nah, there's nothing on this shorey.
This wave has sort of fizzled out.
Good job, guys.
It is official.
Your champion of the Newcastle Cup, Ítalo Ferreira.
Ítalo back to number one in the world.
Thanks, Kingy.
Just-- It wasn't high, like--
I like what you were doing.
If you'd stuck one of those that was deep in the water,
-you would have just… -Yeah.
Fuck.
Congratulations!
Thank God.
Sometimes, things don't go your way.
And you kind of have to understand yourself.
Ítalo!
Well done, man.
Congratulations!
Damn, congratulations!
Hugs!
Thanks.
Your champion, Ítalo Ferreira.
Working without my family is different.
I always question myself.
Like, you never know if you're going the right way.
Ítalo!
Wow, there's a lot of people here. I'm nervous.
I'm more nervous right now than in a heat.
-Yeah, man. -Oh, man. Fuck.
Every single one of these people fucking loves you, Ítalo,
so you have nothing to fear, brother.
Oh, man. Hey, Ítalo, man, what's your relationship like with Gabi?
He's a good guy. Yeah. He's a competitor, you know,
so sometimes it's different, but he's--
Could you sense that Gabe was cracking in that final at all?
I don't know. That was my time.
-Yeah, big time. Big time. -Yeah.
Some people might be looking at Gabe--
There are warning signs.
At Newcastle, Gabe got the highest wave of the final,
but he just didn't back it up.
It was probably the first time
that I saw a little chink in his armor where he tried to go to the air too early.
But Ítalo just had all this raw energy and just this momentum,
and everything that he's got just started turning into gold.
And he was like, "Well, I'm here to show that I am the best."
You've hit the mark
-pretty much on everything you've done. -Yeah. Yeah.
So I just want something flatter and-- and see if you can maintain
that kind of speed and variety in something that flat.
-Okay? All right, have fun. -Yeah, yeah.
Here he goes.
Andy King probably has the capacity
to create the impression that it's all pretty cruisy
and casual and he's just hanging out
and doing his thing.
But really, what's going on is something quite ruthless and competitive.
There isn't a lot of opportunity and kickback there.
-Yeah. -So, you keep the same thing,
-but see if you can adapt to this. -Okay.
If you're cool with that.
Andy, his life story is amazing.
He overcome himself, you know.
He had to-- to trust and believe and to be strong, you know?
And I don't know, I felt…
I felt I-- I need to do the same.
That's why I want to be helped by him.
Really good.
A lot of it's to do with getting,
like, a momentum into an event, so you peak.
You do clash, you know?
I kept pushing and kept asking and kept pushing.
There's more. You always can give more.
So that will come up with disagreement.
So we just make sure that we set those perimeters
and boundaries at the start
that we won't take anything into the next day.
So this is your space now. You own it.
What a maneuver, man!
Wow!
You're out there in the world where there are critics,
and there are people coming against you.
And who's on your side, and who's not on your side.
To have that person who just firmly and unequivocally has your back,
no matter what the situation is.
That's invaluable.
Back in North Narrabeen.
Two-time world champ Gabriel Medina,
current world number two.
Next to him, reigning world champ Ítalo Ferreira,
current world number one.
And who do you think is your main rival this year?
Who do you think is really gonna push you?
To win my third World Title, it's my biggest goal in surfing.
I just want to know if I can do it by myself,
without my stepdad.
Gabi may not be questioning himself in, like, losing to Ítalo.
There is probably an element of his mind where he's like,
"What is Ítalo doing that I'm not?"
I want more titles and more wins, for sure.
You start thinking about all the ways it can go wrong,
and that scares me, of course.
If he wins, it means that I'm not ruining his life or his career.
It's really important for him,
it's really important for me,
and it's really important for us together. And he knows that.
Last week was super fun.
Yeah, that was a good contest and-- Yeah.
We-- We ride again, I think.
I think if you continue to beat someone,
you'll get in their head.
And they may not even acknowledge that it's there,
but it's definitely there.
Great to have fans
at the Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic stop for the season.
Go Medina!
So far, Narrabeen has been all Gabriel Medina.
And he is hungry for more.
There is your current World Surf League leader,
Ítalo Ferreira.
Second is Gabriel Medina, already through.
I've started the year well.
There's a long road ahead, good challenges.
But I feel prepared.
Conner Coffin. This man is on the tear.
This is gonna be a super heat.
It's not that I know where the path is,
but I have a light to get there
and catch that dream again,
to be world champion.
There's the big full rotation,
but somehow, he doesn't pull it off.
Ítalo yet to really make his mark in this heat.
This is the first time Ítalo has actually been basically scoreless.
Here we go. Looking for the hop, takes the flow.
Oh, my gosh!
Wow.
The white water's tackling him on the landing.
Is it complete?
We'll leave that with the judges.
We'll watch it a couple of times, and then it's decision time.
To me, that's complete.
I'm with you. He's in control,
but we know how critical the panel's been on riding away clean.
Tell me what you think.
No. No. No.
That wave of Ítalo Ferreira.
Judges a 1.77. Incomplete.
Oh, my gosh.
It's harsh, but it's the top level of sport,
and it's just not enough ride out.
The main reason that it was incomplete is there was no forward momentum.
He wasn't able to ride with that wave once he'd land the air.
And those moments are a big moment for the judges to put a statement down
that if you don't complete a maneuver 100%,
you're not gonna get the score.
Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty cruel score. 1.77.
He would've had the lead by miles.
We're now down to 19 seconds.
Quick snap off the roof, punches the fins out. So, is that enough?
Give us the score.
Still awaiting score for Ítalo Ferreira.
Did I overturn the score?
This is a big moment.
All scores are locked in.
Conner Coffin gets the win.
Wow, what a finish to that heat.
Bitch!
It's infuriating.
When the opponent wins because he was really good,
I'm like, "Okay, next time."
But when you do your best and lose
and miss out on the opportunity
to win again,
that makes me very angry.
You know what I think you should do?
-What? -Just have fun.
Surf for fun.
Like when you are free surfing.
Gabriel Medina has made his way through to the finals.
I want water. I'm thirsty.
It's here.
He's come off second best so far,
so this is a big challenge for him.
There was a few wider and in on that last heat.
Look, you never lost control,
but there was better opportunity a bit wider and in further.
Okay.
And it is Conner Coffin in action.
He's been on an absolute tear this event.
And he'll be really looking for his first win today here at Narrabeen.
It's that whole fight or flight thing.
-Yeah. -Good luck. All right.
There's those people who shy away from it.
Then there's those people who show up
and they actually perform better on the stage.
And it's not coachable.
They're born.
One thing's certain.
We will have a champion at Narrabeen in 31 minutes' time.
Here comes Conner. All this section to work with.
Big turn to start. Nice and vertical. Slams it shut.
Medina's on the loose.
Here's the windup for the front. Full rotation.
-Yes! -Yeah!
A high score for Gabriel Medina. A 9.27.
Racetrack section. Tail-high reverse. Complete.
Yeah.
The crowd is eating this up.
Basically teleports across that wave.
Oh, my God.
You're seeing a superstar in motion.
This guy is on another planet.
He's enjoying himself.
I think we're seeing a new phase of Gabriel Medina.
You and him created this.
-No. You did it. -You did. It's so sick.
Like, that was the final piece for him. I'm just so, so happy to see him so happy.
-Yeah. Me too. -Like, you guys are just--
-This is your new space. This is it. -Yes.
It's official.
Gabriel Medina, Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic champion.
Good job.
Fighting for a third World Title this year.
He's now world number one.
Ítalo dropping to second.
For someone like Gabe, because he's so good,
it's very rare that he gets out of third gear.
But it felt like he hit fifth gear this event.
He had the best time of his life right there.
Shit.
Good job.
Him and Yasmin--
To see that you can still win like that through, you know, being happy…
That, for sure, like, choked me up.
Thank you.
I was going through a hard moment.
And the only way to-- to get out the best stuff was being happy.
You know, like, sometimes it's hard, but you gotta try.
You know, like, do something that makes you happy.
And I'm gonna try to make the most of this momentum.
The chances of you being a rookie and beating the top seed…
Almost impossible.
It's your job on the line and your future.
I can't afford to miss any event. Got a fracture.
He has to surf through the pain
against the world number one.