Gabriel Medina needed to be perfect in the 2024 Olympic qualifier. Photo: Sean Evans//ISA
Gabriel Medina had to take matters into his own hands to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. When he lost to Jack Robinson in the final of the 2023 WSL Tahiti Pro, it was a devastating blow to his Olympic hopes. Had he won the event, it would have placed him above compatriot Joao Chianca in the rankings and given him the second Olympic slot for Brazil.
Instead, he had to go to Puerto Rico the following year and grind it out at the World Surfing Games. Thanks to a new wrinkle in the qualification system, the winning teams of each gender in the event would award their country an “extra” third slot beyond the two surfers per country quota.
With Joao Chianca injured, Yago Dora entered the event. Team Brazil set the criteria beforehand: if they got the extra slot, it would go to whoever finished higher between Medina and Dora. Their other teammate, Filipe Toledo, had already secured his slot via the CT.
While Dora earned a respectable eighth place to help Brazil in the team standings, Medina was perfect individually. He took first place in all eight heats that he surfed, winning a star-studded final that included Ramzi Boukhiam, Kauli Vaast, and Joan Duru. If Medina hadn’t finished first, the extra slot would have gone to France.
It was a brilliant showing of Medina’s skill and his determination when he really wants something. No matter what the conditions were over the long week of competition, Medina showed that the most elite surfers can prevail. (It’s worth noting that Medina has not been one of the CT surfers publicly complaining about the new qualification system that adds weight to the World Surfing Games.)
Medina went on to earn a bronze medal at the 2024 Games in Tahiti — and was immortalized by what may have been the most iconic photo of the entire Olympics.
