Gabriel Medina Gives Scathing Review Of WSL Judging After Controversial Surf Ranch Final
‘The surf community has been mesmerized by the poor clarity and consistency of judging for many years now, but lately it has been even more shocking.’
Scalding hot.
Less than an hour after the Surf Ranch finals concluded, three time World Champion Gabriel Medina issued a statement on Instagram calling out WSL judges for ‘mesmerizing inconsistencies’ in scoring that ‘threaten to draw fans, sponsors and athletes away’.
A PR pickle alright.
Per his latest IG post:
“Dear WSL,
Please understand the importance of this discussion.
Surfing has been my life and my love for this sport is unconditional. I have put all my heart into and and want to leave a beautiful legacy one day when I look back at it.
However the surfing community, especially in Brazil, is mesmerized with the poor clarity and inconsistence of judging for many years now, but lately it has been even more shocking.
It is quite clear that judging is now rewarding very simple surfing, seamless transitions and have taken critical turns in critical sections off the criteria. This is very frustrating and is stagnating the sport.
Fans and sponsors will not accept this to continue and will in a near future be drawn away once all they want is equal and fair judging to the sport.
Also, important to note that many coaches and managers have had the opportunity to speak to WSL after heats/events to ask about PROGRESSION and VARIETY in the criteria and the lack of reward for this space. The response given by them is always quite defensive by giving poor examples to illustrate THEIR point.
WSL needs urgently to clarify judging and apply equal and fair judging to save the progression of the sport.”
Ooft.
As a side note, Gabriel Medina has 11.1 million followers on instagram, compared with the WSL’s 3.9. Almost three times the size.
You could fit 10 Stab followings inside Gabe Medina. That’s why non-endemic brands like Gillette pay him thousands to shave his armpits and not us. He is a super star.
In the men’s final many viewers, myself included, felt Italo Ferreira was undercooked in the final against Griffin Colapinto, which inevitably triggered strong reactions from surf fans.
The comments section of the WSL’s winner post has since amassed ~10K comments, mostly from Brazilians, fingering the judges for dodgy scoring.
A tough day ahead for Pritamo and the Wozzle’s media team.
More to come.
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