Stab Magazine | Caio Ibelli Posts Heartfelt Message To Medina, Can't Tag The Champ Because He Is Blocked

Just Wrapped: Finals Day! Stab High Japan 2025 Presented By Monster Energy — Re-watch Below

614 Views

Caio Ibelli Posts Heartfelt Message To Medina, Can’t Tag The Champ Because He Is Blocked

Medina’s trigger finger is quick and remorseless!

news // Dec 18, 2019
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ever tried to tag a presumed friend in an online forum and their profile just…wouldn’t…appear?

Tapping at keys, making sure their name is spelled correctly, scrolling through the search bar only to find… nothing!

Then you check on your other friend’s phone and, yup, the presumed friend’s account is alive and well. Thriving, actually. He posted three gym selfies today and a +Neymar photo on his main feed that racked half-a-million taps (or 250,000 likes). 

And then it dawns on you. You’ve been blocked. Banned from seeing, interacting, or tagging his profile until further notice. 

Most of the time, you know why you were blocked—be it a snarky comment on a previous post or your generally annoying online presence; sometimes you don’t. 

But Caio Ibelli? He knows exactly why he got blocked by his childhood friend and accidental arch-nemesis Gabriel Medina—even if the reason is flimsy at best.

Apologies, I’m afraid I’ve buried the lede. Let’s fix that.

Yesterday, the day before Caio Ibelli and Gabriel Medina are set face off in Round 4 of the Pipeline Masters, the smaller Brazilian wrote a heartfelt message about his and the bigger Brazilian’s lifetime of friendship and mutually-respectful rivalry in surfing, going as far back as the King of the Groms final in France (see above), where Medina dropped two 10s on Caio’s head, setting the stage for a lifetime of one-sided domination.

….Or, wait. 

According to the WSL site, Gabe and Caio have only surfed head-to-head three times in their CT careers, and Caio has the lion’s share of victories*.

*Ok, there’s a slight asterisk on this stat, because as we saw at the last CT event in Portugal, Medina blew a combination lead over his compatriot by shoulder-checking him without priority, resulting in an interference and unnecessary heat loss. So it really should be 2-1 Medina. 

Anyways, here’s Caio’s message according to Google Translate:

We have been competing together since childhood, tomorrow we will be in the water together again this time in Pipeline for the first time. Each struggling to achieve our own goals. His is the third world title and mine is my best place in the WT rankings in the toughest year of my career where I didn’t even know if I was going to compete all year long. We train our whole lives for this moment, I will do my best and I want to come out with nothing less than victory. It will be hard game! And it goes from Brazil regardless.

Notice how there’s no “@gabrielmedina” anywhere in Caio’s post? That’s because Instagram made it physcially impossible for Caio to tag his life-long pal, due to the fact that Medina blocked Ibelli following their interference incident

If you recall, Medina went on the offensive after his controversial loss in Portugal, writing the following on his Instagram:

Caio and I caught the same wave and each went one way. My wave was shorter and his was longer. So much so that while I was back outside, he was still riding his wave. When I got to the bottom, I was so sure the priority was mine that I didn’t look at the priority sign. To my surprise, when the next wave came, I ended up going because I was sure the priority was mine. That ended up leading to interference.

The part about Medina being out the back while Ibelli was still riding his wave was patently untrue. The original priority call could have gone either way, but it was always Medina’s responsibility to check the tower and, whether or not he agreed with the judges’ decision, abide by their ruling. 

18aa4962d1825b9d54a283ccf8a1df1a

Medina’s online outburst was not only misguided but also directly harmful to Ibelli, who received death threats for days following the event. It’s unlikely that this was Medina’s intended result, but he did nothing to stop the onslaught of aggressive messages Caio was receiving. And, as we’ve previously established, Medina also blocked his compatriot on Instagram, which is perhaps his pettiest retaliation of them all. 

As an organization that was formerly blocked by Medina for…say…three-to-five years, Stab knows how quick and remorseless the Brazilian’s trigger finger can be. But the truth is, we probably deserved the digital incarceration Medina placed upon us.

Caio Ibelli? Not so much.

As far as we’ve seen, the guy never said a bad word about Medina following the Portugal incident, which wasn’t even Ibelli’s fault to begin with. 

The fact that Caio continues to take the high road despite Medina’s digital petulance is nothing short of admirable. We’ll see if his positive karma means anything when facing Medina tomorrow at Pipe.

My gut says, probably not. 

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Where’s The World Title Going In 2025?

A post-cut debrief featuring thoughts from world number one Jordy Smith.

May 29, 2025

Axel Lorentz Steps Down As Head Shaper At Pukas, Starts Eponymous Board Label

What comes after a twelve-year career and five Stab In The Dark finals?

May 28, 2025

Aquatic Outlaws: How Surfing’s Wild West Was Won

Before the Margaret River Pro, there were a few rogue men from Perth.

May 27, 2025

Vale Jack McCoy: The Pillar Of Surf Cinema Passes On At 76

The creator of Blue Horizon, The Occumentary, the Billabong Challenge and more goes out swinging.

May 27, 2025

2025 Belongs To Power Surfing

Jordy Smith notches first multi-win season of his career + Gabriela Bryan overpowers Caity Simmers.

May 27, 2025

Jordy Smith Is The Number 1 Surfer In The World

Yes, in 2025. A Margaret River Pro day 4 report.

May 26, 2025

This Is Why We Do It — Stab High Japan x Monster Energy 2025, Dissected

Hughie Vaughan, Mikey Wright, Sierra Kerr, Loci Cullen, and Eden Walla are your 2025 Japanese…

May 25, 2025

Watch: Finals Day Highlights From Stab High Japan Presented By Monster Energy

Episode Three of Poolside hosted by Kona Big Wave.

May 25, 2025

Re-Watch — Finals Day At Stab High Japan 2025 Presented By Monster Energy

$50,000 in prize money and the biggest chlorinated ramp to ever host a contest. 

May 24, 2025

Watch: Day One Highlights From Stab High Japan Presented By Monster Energy

Episode Two of Poolside hosted by Kona Big Wave.

May 24, 2025

Mikey Wright “Puts The Roof Straight On”, Traps 25 Souls Inside A Japanese Aerial Inferno

A (semi) objective Day 1 report of Stab High Japan 2025 x Monster Energy

May 24, 2025

Watch The Replay — Day One Of Stab High Japan Presented By Monster Energy

Watch the Opening Round of the Open Men's, Ladybirds, and Bottle Rockets.

May 23, 2025

Watch Julian Wilson, Harry Bryant, Mikey Wright, And More Warm-Up For Stab High Japan Presented By Monster Energy

Episode One of Poolside, brought to you by Kona Big Wave.

May 23, 2025

Matt Meola On Archery, Not Surfing, And Why He Doesn’t Regret Sacrificing $15k At Last Year’s Aerial Altar

"It was for the good of surfing."

May 23, 2025

Watch: New Occy Just Dropped

Cloudbreak, Bells, and an ageless approach from the '99 World Champ.

May 22, 2025

Who’s Going To Win Stab High Japan Presented By Monster Energy?

Yago Dora, Luke Cederman, Coco Ho, Kaipo Guerrero, Curren Caples, Liam O’Brien, and more share…

May 22, 2025

Molly Picklum On Aisle Seat Warfare, Beating The Red-Eye + Not Melting Down In Transit

The Australian Queen of Sunset’s guide to travel, courtesy of Creatures.

May 21, 2025

We Got What We Asked For — Did The Box Deliver?

And why some CT women were pissed they didn't run.

May 21, 2025
Advertisement