I love me a good Gabriel Medina claim. However, I roll my eyes at most NFL end-zone dances. I scoff at the routine of European soccer players being chased the length of the field by teammates (as if they’re trying to get away) only to slide, knees first, into the grass with an anticlimactic pose. Baseball players punctuating a standup double by pausing to draw an imaginary bow and arrow at their teammates in the dugout? Don’t like that either.
But there’s nothing that compares to a Gabriel Medina claim.
What’s the difference? So many celebrations in sports are contrived, choreographed moments that punctuate something exciting or great…just because they’re supposed to. They don’t add to the drama of the game. They steal from the moment. But yesterday, in a way only Gabriel Medina could, he created an iconic image by saluting everybody in the channel.
While he wasn’t the only lensman to capture the photo, Jerome Brouillet snapped this image that the mainstream media fawned over. It was beautiful, and many on the internet screamed “AI” (it wasn’t). As surfers, it’s just the type of theatrics we’ve all come to know and love from Gabby. He caught the wave of the day but I argue this will become the most iconic image of this summer’s Olympics. Not Olympic surfing, of the Olympics.
GABRIEL MEDINA TAKES FLIGHT. ✈️🌊
Still in awe of this photo. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/kBzJRJZmpW
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 30, 2024
Now, is Gabriel Medina guilty of pandering to judges when he throws his hands on his hips, or in the air? Yeah, I’d bet his reflex to punctuate good waves with some kind of a claim is exactly because he’s so used to selling his scores to the judges’ panel. But that’s where the nuance of a Gabriel Medina claim separates itself from anybody else in the game. While those other celebrations come off as contrived displays for attention, Medina’s claims are performative gestures building towards another win. And the man is never not trying to win. He’s always locked in, aware of the moment, and even selling his composure to gain the slightest edge – even in the most terrifying of moments.
The Gabriel Medina claim isn’t a “look how cool I am” gloat. It’s to recruit a judge and the crowd in his effort to win. In the words of Ron Burgundy, it’s a “look how good I am” exclamation point. That gives a lot of surf fans the ick, but it’s still just a dude being true to who he is: somebody trying to win, whether you like him for it or not. In that way, every Gabriel Medina claim (to me) is gold.
But as a staff, we thought this particular Gabby claim was so pure, so clean, that it could easily fit into other everyday moments. From the deli to the street corner to the disco. We’re here for it. So enjoy six images of Gabby claiming in everyday situations. Because as surf fans, we all deserve to see that.
Photoshop work by The Inertia’s Cooper Gegan.
