Introducing: Mr. & Mrs. Ferreira
The 2019 World Champ gets hitched.
Join hands, everyone, because just a few hours ago, via the holy feed, we learned that Italo Ferreira has married his pregnant girlfriend, now wife, Sofia Larocca.
It’s been a hell of a year for the 2019 world champ. He opened with such manic brilliance, beginning the season with a 3rd, a 1st, and a 2nd, that I felt compelled to write a 3000-word sermon on the second coming of Saint Italo. 5000 points clear of his nearest rival, he looked untouchable.
And then…
Well. Not saying I cursed him. But since then, the wheels have developed a sort of elegant wobble.
Italo didn’t win a single man-on-man heat throughout the entire Australian leg. His best result, since Portugal, was a 5th at J-Bay. Now, with only Teahupo’o left, he’s neck-deep in a three-way standoff with Ethan and Griff for the last two chairs at the Final Five banquet. Two go through, one goes home.
So, what’s changed for Italo?
You could start with the baby. He announced his son’s impending arrival less than two months ago. Then, today, he got married. Even for a pathological competitor, travelling the world with a pregnant partner while planning a wedding will fry a few neurons. Two of life’s supposed biggest milestones, so it’s hardly surprising if his mind’s been elsewhere.
Plus, Italo’s got a history of form slumps before frantic bursts of dominion. Case in point: last year he scraped through the cut by a single heat, then caught fire in the back half of the season, climbed to 5th, and went on a full-blown kill spree at Trestles, getting hotter with every round until John John finally put him down in the last heat of the year.
If he squeezes into the Top 5 again, even in fifth, he’s a genuine title threat. Especially when it’s at Cloudbreak.
Congratulations, Italo and Sofia.
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