At the QuikPro WSL Competition in France this weekend, Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina pulled the worlds pants down and called it Arthur with this stunning full 360 clean above the lip.
The air is ridiculous, he stomps it absolutely bolts, but it’s just how clean the spin is that blows us away. It’s that clean you could eat your dinner off it. It’s just immaculate.
And then there’s the claim. The big old arms-in-the-air-like-you-just-don’t-care claim. Claims aren’t cool. Claims are douchey. Claims are the div kid in school that sucks up to the teacher by shouting ‘I KNOW IT” every time a question is put to the class. And yet…
We’re handing this one to Medina. In most other sports on the planet, whether it’s spraying champagne around, doing The Robot, or rocking a pretend baby to sleep, celebrations and claims are legit.
That said, we like the fact that in the world of action sports they’re, at best, frowned upon. But now and again, like when you land a rotation so clean that’s it’s sterile enough for surgery, you can throw those arms in the air.
Hats off, Gabriel. Hats off. And the judges agree. They awarded Medina a perfect 10 for his efforts, which is in stark contrast to the low score fellow pro Kelly Slater got for another epic spin earlier this year.