The WSL’s comments section isn’t having it right now. Griffin Colapinto just put himself at a major disadvantage in the hunt for his first world title. Coming off a disappointing result at Teahupo’o, where he fell to local wildcard Mihimana Braye in the Elimination Round and lost the yellow jersey, Colapinto is falling further down the rankings for the second week in a row thanks to what was later called a “pretty textbook interference.”
The call came in the opening seconds of Colapinto’s Round of 16 heat against João Chianca. With no priority established, Chianca swung on a set wave and aimed his paddle closer to the peak of the incoming wave. Colapinto, who was underneath Chianca, swam toward the peak too and ended up right in the Brazilian’s path.
WSL Deputy Commissioner Renato Hickel called it “a pretty textbook interference. Heats start with no priority, so normal interference rules apply. In that situation, João Chianca had the inside position for the wave and Griffin did a classic block.”
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Naturally, fans are griping about the call because that’s what they do. And the WSL giving any opportunity for fans to complain about a judgment call is really just an invitation to overshadow an entire contest at this point. The broadcast booth was torn on the decision as soon as it went down. But Colapinto and Chianca went on to deliver a banger of a heat. Colapinto turned in two excellent scores and almost pulled off a wild middle finger to the judges by winning anyway, even leading in the closing minutes. Chianca offered a point that’s hard to argue with afterward whether you hated the interference call or not.
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he said.
What’s at stake?
The early exit leaves Colapinto with Rio and Cloudbreak to regain his top-five position for the WSL Finals. A week ago he was wearing the yellow jersey and in a span of four heats he’s now been leapfrogged by John John Florence (at Teahupo’o) and now Jack Robinson (later in the Round of 16 Friday). In that same span, Gabriel Medina has jumped from outside the top 10 to within 1,500 points of the top five. Ethan Ewing could catch Colapinto by the end of this contest as well.
This could be an interference that cost Griffin Colapinto a world title. Even with a top-five finish and a spot in the WSL Finals, the yellow jersey has ruled over the winner-take-all format on the men’s side, providing a huge advantage for the surfer that secures the number-one seed. In 2023, Ethan Ewing beat world number two Colapinto from his third spot in the WSL Finals draw. He dropped two immediate heats to number-one Filipe Toledo for the world title. In 2022, Italo Ferreira started the WSL Finals in fourth and went on to pick off Kanoa Igarashi, Ethan Ewing, and Jack Robinson one-by-one before also losing consecutive heats against Toledo, who was again number one, in the title bout. And in 2021, Filipe Toledo started the WSL Finals third before he beat Conner Coffin and Italo Ferreira. He lost to number-one seed Gabriel Medina in two heats for the world title.
