Gabriel Medina, obviously unhappy with his Round 3 loss to Glenn Hall in Heat 6, expressed a strong dissatisfaction in his post-heat interview with Pete Mel. Today was a day of major upsets, as the lower seeds got the jump on the big dogs down at Snapper Rocks. As conditions continued pitifully (for the 11th day in a row), our beloved CT surfers expressed their frustration. However, no one expressed frustration quite like the defending 2014 World Champion, Gabriel Medina.
“I wish you guys could explain the rules,” said Medina, confused with judges’ decision to call an interference. “I thought it was a bad call. And the next time Glen say fuck you to me, I’ll teach him some…” Gabriel furiously said before Pete Mel cut him off.
Clearly things got personal in their heat. It’s hard to say exactly what went down in the water, but between Gabriel’s post-heat interview and Glenn Hall’s body language following the interference, there appears to be some bad blood.
“This is professional surfing’s biggest stage, the stakes are high and there is no shortage of passion,” the WSL’s Dave Prodan share via email when asked about the incident. “Gabriel’s post-heat interview was not worthy conduct of an athlete at this level and the league has engaged in discussions with him and will take further action if necessary.”
Granted, the call was arguably unjustified, but Gabriel Medina is clearly in the early stages of being a champion. Champions know how to take a loss. Threatening a fellow competitor, no matter how tense competition becomes, isn’t an option.
