ICHINOMIYA (AFP) – Brazil’s Italo Ferreira claimed Olympic surfing’s first ever gold medal on Tuesday (July 27), beating Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi in the men’s final.
Ferreira, who learned to surf standing on the foam box his father sold fish from, snapped his board on the first wave and had to wait in the sea for a replacement.
But he recovered to score 15.14 to Igarashi’s 6.60 at Tsurigasaki Beach, around 100km (60 miles) east of Tokyo.
Igarashi had shocked world number one Gabriel Medina in the semi-finals, landing a stunning aerial move late in the contest to beat the Brazilian.
But the Japanese rider, whose father grew up surfing at the same beach, could not find a way past an imperious Ferreira in the final, as the 2019 world champion added the first-ever Olympics surfing gold medal to his collection.
Australia’s Owen Wright beat Medina to claim the bronze.
In the women’s final, American world No. 1 Carissa Moore won the gold after beating South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag.
Moore’s score of 14.93 was enough to see off giant-killer Buitendag’s 8.46 and earn her the gold.
Japan’s Amuro Tsuzuki beat Caroline Marks of the US in the bronze-medal match.
The medal events – originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday – were moved forward to Tuesday to take advantage of favourable wave conditions.
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