Professional longboarder Ginger Caimi took a feud with her competitor Chloe Calmon from the water to social media on Tuesday. Caimi, a 14-year-old Italian longboarder with a few WSL wins already under her belt, accused the 32-year-old Brazilian of poor sportsmanship after a priority interference at the ISA Longboard Championships in El Salvador.
Caimi posted a video to her Instagram showing Calmon committing an interference during their round three heat. At the beginning of the heat, priority had not been established, and since Caimi was clearly in position, the judges called interference on Calmon.
Despite losing her second-highest score, Calmon still advanced through the heat in second position. But, according to Caimi’s post, the interference collision injured her arm, hindering her performance, and Calmon had a few unpleasant comments after the heat.
“Because of the intense pain, I was no longer able to paddle, pop up, or regain my focus,” Caimi wrote. “As if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the heat, while I was visibly struggling with the pain, (Calmon) came up to me and, laughing, said: ‘See? That’s karma!’”
“This hurts more than any physical blow, especially coming from a legend like (Calmon) during a World Longboard Championship, where fair play should be the absolute rule for all athletes,” she added.
Caimi posted a photo with a brace on her right arm and a sign that said: “Never mess with karma.” She also invited Calmon to apologize, and apparently they are staying at the same accommodation.
In correspondence with The Inertia, Caimi said she fears she has a fractured arm and is likely going to get an X-ray. “I hope I can compete tomorrow,” she wrote.
Calmon, 32, has finished runner-up several times on the WSL Longboard Tour and won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. She did not publicly respond to Caimi’s post and didn’t respond to our request for comments.
The ISA chose not to provide comments on the situation.
Caimi is still in the repechage rounds, while Calmon continued in the main event.
