Gabriel Medina Injured, Will Miss Start Of 2025 Championship Tour
Last week, while freesurfing at his home beach of Maresias, Gabriel Medina landed awkwardly from a frontside 360, laying back and trying to recover the move.
In doing so, however, he tore his left pectoral and will miss the start of the 2025 Championship Tour.
This morning he posted his latest update on Instagram:
"Last Thursday, in Maresias, I suffered a pectoral injury and this morning I underwent a surgical procedure to begin treating this injury. Everything went well and we are already looking at the recovery period and next steps.
"I was preparing and very focused for the 2025 season, but unfortunately I will be out for a while.
"I will now focus on my recovery to come back stronger!"
Last year, Medina finished seventh on the CT, his lowest full-season rankings since 2013.
The Lexus Pipe Pro, the first event of the 2025 CT, begins on January 27th.
Comments
amazing things we do and only get hurt once.
Mental, shows how strong his legs are if the final thing to go was his pectoral. Looks like the shoulder was strong as well and it went to the next weakest point.
Yeah he seemed to be anchoring his arm to get back up and the wave went all Melbourne storm on him.
Pec surgery rehab... that'll take some time, could be 2025 gooorne and sadly another lost year of GM JJF showdowns.
That's how I see it too: Full extension, then trying to anchor his arm from an unnatural position.
"all melbourne storm on him" haha gold
Yep Bellamy chicken wing move
Pec injuries usually are season ending for contact sports- not sure how long the rehab is for surfing.
But yeah, bummer as far as seeing JJF and Medina go head to head.
That rivalry just seems cosmically destined not to happen.
I’m still going to stick my neck out and predict JJF announces retirement after pipe . Could well be wrong . With what he’s got going on with family, business & already 3 world title holder, I just can’t see him doing the full tour again. Plus the fact his brother gets more barrels than him .
Not so sure Supa. JJF on tour for another year and a possible 4th title puts him into rarified air and is a damn good investment from a business perspective.
I reckon they have a plan in place...JJF covers the comp side of the market. NF the youtube and Ivan the underground 'core' surfers.
Give him one more year and i'm sure he'll walk but having said that, it wouldn't surprise me at all if you are 100 percent correct!
all of that reasoning may be easily overwhelmed by the attraction of surfing some of the worlds best waves with only one other surfer in the water
haha. True that!
Keep in mind, that as long as JJF is on the CT the business gets a massive shot of free advertising.
Also, very surfers retain their celebrity cachet once they retire from competition. Considering the brand is built up on the name, sales will drop once he's no longer in the conversation.
I agree with most of the points made above however I can’t see retirement harming the Florence brand . A few trips away with the bros on slab tour , following swells like the one he missed at CB will get plenty of media attention . The odd wildcard at Chopes & CB . I also don’t think he’s hard up for a buck . It will come down to priorities in life and what’s most important to him . It’s a long shot call and we will find out soon enough .
With the finals at cloudbreak not sure he'll walk before that but you never know. Would be another reason not to watch the WSL if he wasn't there imo.....
Fark. If that’s a season ender, that’s one less reason (and there ain’t to many reasons left) to not even bother watching this year.
He really did blossom after ditching Charlie.
Charlie has been back for a while now mate
Actually thought he’d be the man to beat this season. Sure he was injured surfing? Going off what we know of him it sounds more like a doing weights looking at himself in the mirror injury.
"Flexed the claim so hard his pec burst."
Haha, good old Beachgrit.
Wonder if they fixed up his poo stance while under, trim that rear knee and get it pointing forward not backward.
Classic. Lots of shit on that site but that’s funny. Truth hurts.
Bummer , season over before it’s started , so who’s likely to take his spot ?
Joao and Filipe are the 2 injury wildcards, so Flip?
Is this correct ? Why would Flip get an injury wildcard ? Didn’t he just take a year off ? I know Joao had a genuine injury and besides that aren’t there 2 spots for whoever was injured the previous year. So Gabs should be a whole new spot surely ?
Sorry wildcards, not just specific to injury, and something to do with previous champions get extra benefit/time to come back. Anyhoo, the post below...
No worries sprout , I knew someone would have the answer. Does anyone know what happens after the cut ? If Gabs is fit and Gentil has made the cut, where does that leave him ?
If Ian makes the cut (top 22) he stays on. If Medina is fit by say Snapper (before the cut), then he will take Ian's spot. But, if Ian makes the cut then Medina will be given a wildcard like in 2022 where he sat out the first half of the year and then got the post-cut wildcard.
Thanks tail high
Felipe and joao are already going to be on tour next year. They were given the 2 wildcards at the end of last season. Medina's spot will go to Ian Gentil as he was the first surfer below the cut. Next in line after Gentil will be Alan Cleland as he was first surfer to miss qualifying via the QS.
What a shitty trade. Medina for Gentil.
The contrast in their boards agrees with you... Medina's is covered in high end sponsor stickers ... Ian's is completely bare.
Thanks for that.
had a few dollars on Jack robbo to win the title this year. Looks like one of the main contenders out of the running already.
Wow
If we were meant to fly, we would have wings.
We have had aerial surfing landing injuries from all the Wozzle world champs; Kelly S, JJF, Fellip T, Italo & Gabriel M, etc. Style and flow needs to have higher points or else..... more champs on the bench..... risking their future career?
https://surfsimply.com/magazine/flying-high
Repeating what many have said in the past, many (most?) other subjective scoring sports have their scores broken down into parts (difficulty, execution, creativity, etc). Not sure if if given the high number of waves this would be possible in surfing (with limited judging budget) , but it would be something nice to try.
Focus on your goals with good support, courage, determination and hard work
Barton got an Xray for a Christmas present...
Leggie of Huey lei day wins Olympic Games Gold Medal!
https://olympics.com/en/news/viral-image-gabriel-medina-paris-2024-top-…
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2025/jan/10/world-sports-phot…
Gabs Doctor Prescribing : Surf Abu Dhabi Board to ward off all $5,000 therapeutic waves
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVblbHhhRFHlwpL_a…
Never have to touch an icky wave to win the CT from yer death bed.
Outpatients rule Pipe > Board has more manoeuvrability than fully able CT Surfletes
Just hit this button to claim [10] or yer Ward Nurse.
https://www.jttrescue.com/uploadfile/202306/15/458650b46b098040a6cd23cb…
Surgery.... tore that thing off the bone?
Geeze , no doc not sure on time line.
John john passed the curse.
Hard to think it happened free surfing at the local wave. Sure there is some questions running around in ol Gabe head.
2025 has been funky so far.
Not superstitious, just saying.
I’m just impressed with the Brazilian hospital food.
No wonder your a meerkat hunter
Gold
How's the orange wrist band saying "fall risk." The bloke can't fall at all!!!!
too funny - well spotted
Agreed, ol Gabe looks pretty twacted off the meds. Well that just changed me calendar.......
Won't be doing much for a while
He's had a rough road the last 4 years
huge bummer!!
@Supafreak "Is this correct ? Why would Flip get an injury wildcard ? "
Hey, who cares, if they ring I'm goin'
I think it was Medina who pulled off a
back hand 360 air right in front of me as a grommet , as I was paddling back out at Rainbow, pre contest , just to show me that it was better than my cutback ,
he was right ,
I think it was him , because I haven’t seen any other kids that age surfing that good.
I picked him for a future world champion then.
tbb is requesting confirmation...
Possibly helps not surfing with a leggie to notice > that neither is the Champ.
The way tbb sees this is that Gabs was trialling super high air rotations...
Possibly for CT 2 Wavepool...coz those racing walls resemble Surf Abu Dhabi Lefts.
Thinking he's going next level rotation so ditched his Leggie...
Italo likewise goes leggie free in off season air sessions...
Please use yer Local Boardriding sense here...coz there's a lot more to this...
Watch...
*Noticing a lot of Goofs get towed into these heavy left faces...(No Leggie?)
* Notice it's a leggie free local break...(Weird huh!)
Requesting crew to check this unleashed hot Goof...(Vid Below)
That surfer / surfing is local to this wave...that free rider shreds...
Like what's with the Leggie boycott...
Coz Gabs is very much partnering this Goof in this Leggie Free Local Groove!
Reckon someone in the crew knows why here...this wave...No Leggies! Huh!
Coz tbb is sure Gabz is over stretching to save his board & / or a swim ashore...
But it's more than that...something more local...CRED!
This is an old school rules...hang...
Where if ya fall off ...yer branded a kook!
C'mon...tbb is banking on the crew to solve this...
tbb has pulled out all stops here...helps to have a free surfer on the bench...
This is Local Surf LORE / Taboo we outsiders don't see...
That's why tbb is feeling this...It's personal...True natural surf ethic...
Crew know more about this Free spirited surf hang...Why here...
Coz if ya answer that...ya just found out why Gabz over stepped his mark...
Guessing it's Shame! Shame of Hot locals tagging him a Crown Pro Kook!
That Pro just lost his shit...the shame that Gabs really feels but dare not share!
That wave resembles Wedge Power Pound for Pound...leggie is a high risk! Yep!
Please excuse tbb if he's wrong about this...coz me eyes are really poor...
But tbb don't see a leggie!
Certainly feel Gab's desperate board save from the other-side of the world...
Prepared to say...that injury was brought on by Gabz trying to salvage his board! Yes!
That's a weird thing for a Bodybasher to say...but that's a bodybasher'z wave...smell it!
Also reckon you'd see a lot of Gnarly Leggie injuries here...piss them off...Smart idea?
Leashes are dangerous for the body and lead to countless broken boards
Australians are obsessed with them though. Why?
it's just we have always had so many of them. I was reading recently, even 18th century convicts in Australia (then called New Shetland) were given 50 leashes, every time they did anything WRONG, we had so many!
(we call them 'leg ropes' now in memory of the flax leg bindings our convict forebears endured).
A loose log is dangerous to guys padding out, and dangerous for the surfer who loses the board and gets caught in a rip .
The danger comes more from inexperience not the leash , not knowing how to fall, and how long to keep your head under water before you pop up .
How many boards would be broken on the rocks, or lost up the coast without leashes?
Like, I’m so good I’m not going to fall off !
@Watt Tyler.
Who gives a fuck about broken boards, they don’t contain a brain.
Boards without leashes are dangerous and lead to broken heads.
I’ll give it to you, you’ve sure got a very different perspective on surfing, whether it’s, buoyancy vests, leashes, jet skis etc. Your opinion.AW
Guessing we're going with Gabs being leash free...reason tbb posed if crew know better!
Pause Vid @ [3:00-3:05] to see exact same last minute desperate leg stretch to salvage board.
Same wave ...same leash free last minute stretch to claw onto his board...seems like a signature move here!
Doctor's be doing a roaring trade here...reckon they opened up a Surgery clinic in the Beach Kiosk
Top half of body gets rag dolled...no control...same effect...
Hyper extension seems more common on these rapid jarring shoulder turn recovers on this wave...
Top half of body delay is exaggerated & injury is more likely.
Leggie is dangerous here but these high speed contorted hyper extended board saves are equally horrific.
Give it a bash & settle for spinal injury without the lost eye or spliced forehead or unleashed torn muscles.
Choosing the lesser of evils...looks heavy like TOS Jump offs!
Surfboards are dangerous to the body and expensive, why are Australian’s obsessed with them, ban the surfboard .
Wonderin' if these off season wild kingdom free range safaris open up insurance debate.
Off season high energy intensity rad prep for High Risk CT 1.
Leads to plenty of injuries right up until same day Reef Sacrifice Hooter...
Can't keep losing #1 Champs at this rate...
Insurance : {Pet porpoises must be kept on a short leash in certified WSL Olympic Training Pools}.
Actually! There is a risk factor creeping into the off season...
Just realized that WSL Pool is mandating Higher off season Risk...
tbb has been recording it...without realizing it's ramping...
Only now see the light...
All see the air factor is Compromising leggies...
Plenty of top 5 surfers are jumping off jet-skis in WSL pools.
Plenty of WSL Pool Party Waves of 3 or more CT snakes cutting in dangerously close...
This breaches WSL Comp Venue Sportsmanlike behaviour...places fellow tour Pros at risk!
Others are flipping air rotations with Head cams in High speed shallow WSL pools..
Recall Silver Medalist Jack claiming he hit the concrete often in WSL Olympic training pool!
It's actually a surprise this INJURY never happened at one of WSL Pool Parties.
So it's a big yes!
WSL are actually ramping the risk factor during off season at rapid rate...
By shallow fast hard shelf off season prep for Shallow fast Hard shelf CT 1/2/3 Reef Bathymetry
WSL are fuelling their own pre season Death Race 2025 reef sacrifices
They make take notice & cut back on the Pool Party antics before more serious injury occurs.
I wonder if it affected his claim??...Maybe thats the end of the rotation movement...fingers crossed!!
Now I am in my fifties I tend to not go for 360 airs, just to be safe you know...
Looks like Crosby will be out for a large part of the season too. Dry docked on his elbow at Backdoor apparently
medina is done now, great career, some great surfing in the past