Whatshot
Medina takes his first win
Medina takes his first win
TEAHUPO'O, Tahiti and Gabriel Medina from Brazil claimed victory at theTahiti Pro Teahupo'o, Stop No. 7 on the World Surf League (WSL) Men's Championship Tour (CT). An exciting Finals Day witnessed Medina take his first win of the 2018 season in clean three-to-five foot waves at the famed South Pacific reef pass.
Medina, 2014 WSL Champion, earned his big win today by defeating Owen Wright (AUS) in the Final, Jeremy Flores (FRA) in the Semifinals, and Italo Ferreira (BRA) in the Quarterfinals. Since his first Tahiti Pro win in 2014, Medina never dropped below third place, and today the Brazilian superstar stamps his second win at Teahupo'o. "I'm just so happy to win here again and, first, I just want to thank God," Medina said. "I came here and trained a lot, and I was just waiting for the victory. I love Tahiti and I've had some great Finals here. I've won here before, two second-place finishes, and another win now. I have a great family here, which is incredible. Now I can kind of start thinking about winning a World Title. I think anything is possible. There's a couple ofevents to go and I just want to keep giving it my best." Medina's victorymoves him up from 3rd to 2nd on the Jeep Leaderboard, 6,300 points behind World No. 1 Filipe Toledo (BRA). In last year's World Title race, Medina fell short of the win against John John Florence (HAW). Now, with a win in Tahiti and second on the rankings, the 2014 World Champion is well within striking distance of capturing a second WSL Title this year if he maintains strong results in the final four events.

