Kelly Slater Chimes In On The Gabriel Medina/Tanner Gudauskas Controversy

Social media’s a scary wealth of information and opinions. And, after the Gabriel Medina x Tanner Gudang situation, World Tour surfers, and fans have taken to Instagram and Facebook with a vengeance. The sentiment’s been mostly negative. See: World Shame League, W$L, #corruptwsljudges, a smattering of profanity, xenophobia, and very heated arguments – as is typical with Social Media. And as surfing’s nation turns its lonely eyes to Kelly, this morning he responded with a coherent analysis of the heat, and the conclusion was, everyone should chill out. “I also think most people take easy opportunities to make big deals about things that aren’t super important in the scope of their lives,” he said on his IG. “The extent to which people have taken this heat is seriously silly. It was a close heat that could have gone either way.” 

Dear Kelly, guide us in the this temporary fit of public outrage and controversy.

Here’s Kelly’s public take on the situation: 
Tanner’s first wave (8.5) was the best-surfed wave of the heat with the most variety and commitment in maneuvers. Gabriel got the better score in the first exchange (8.83) which I thought was incorrect both live and watching replays later. That set a strange tone for the heat. The wave Gab got an 8.3 on should have been easily enough to put him in the lead AT THAT TIME. Tanner had an 8.67 in the middle of the heat that I think was very overscored by more than a point. So when Tanner rode his final wave he should have been in second place needing a mid 8 point ride. And he surfed that wave very well. 

I feel the judging got lost from the first exchange. By the time Gabby got his good wave (8.3) and didn’t receive the score, everyone was confused, myself included. No matter what you think it was a close heat that could have gone either way.

I also think most people take easy opportunities to make big deals about things that aren’t super important in the scope of their lives. The extent to which people have taken this heat is seriously silly. It was a close heat that could have gone either way. Actually, three of us who go to every event scored it later at home and had Tanner with a slight lead, all things considered. My solution? The judges shouldn’t be able to hear the current situation and score accordingly but even with that, they are trying to decide who surfed the better heat. We’ve all had close ones go our way or against us.

So there you go. Let the controversy (and blocking) continue!