The two have massive respect for each other. But the rivalry in the water is real. Photos: WSL
Surfing could use a spicy rivalry. Since the days of Kelly Slater versus Andy Irons, no two surfers have come close to reaching that level of friction and competitiveness. But there’s a new rivalry brewing, one that has been largely formed via the Olympics.
Gabriel Medina’s iconic round three heat at the 2024 Olympics – where he scored a near-perfect 9.9 defined by the legendary Olympic photo – sent Kanoa Igarashi packing. And while it was all in good sportsmanship, Medina wasn’t afraid to let the media know that he hadn’t forgotten how Kanoa Igarashi eliminated him in the semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Medina wanted retribution.
“Tokyo was a hard one to deal with because I was so close to the medal,” said Medina after his round three win. “Kanoa took me out on that one but we had revenge just now. It’s good to get him back. We respect each other, (but) it’s just competition. You have to surf to win. Today was my day. He had his day in Tokyo.”
The rivalry that was born in Tokyo 2020 grew in Paris 2024. On Tuesday Neymar Jr., the Brazilian soccer star and best friend of Medina, threw fuel on the fire by taunting Igarashi via his 63 million X followers.
At Tokyo 2020, Igarashi scored a 17-point heat total in the semis, barely beating out Medina’s 16.67. It was an epic heat in surfing’s Olympic debut, but Medina felt slighted by the scores. He made his complaints loud and clear on his social media channels.
In response to Medina’s Tokyo 2020 complaints, Kanoa Igarashi took to X (formerly Twitter) and not-so-discreetly took a jab at Medina. Igarashi said in Portuguese, “Chora chora que tou feliz hehehehe,” which roughly translates to “keep crying, I’m happy (laughs).”
Oi amigo 😂🇧🇷 https://t.co/eiQG3KSg32
— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) July 30, 2024
Three years later, when Medina got his Olympic revenge on Igarashi by eliminating him in round three, Neymar dug up Igarashi’s old post and responded to it by saying, “Oi, amigo,” or “Hello, friend,” adding a laughing emoji and Brazilian flag.
Igarashi responded to the post on the same day stating in Portuguese, “Damn, the canoe already sunk haha.” (He appeared to use a play on words by using his name Kanoa with a ‘K’ instead of the Portuguese word for canoe spelled “canoa” with a ‘c’.) Igarashi also commented on Medina’s Instagram post of the viral claim, saying (also in Portuguese), “Damn, you didn’t leave one for us hahaha, laughing to not cry.”
Interestingly, since Igarashi qualified for the Championship Tour in 2016, the two surfers have only faced off twice. Medina got the better of Igarashi on both occasions – the quarterfinals of the 2021 Pipe Masters and the semifinals of the 2017 Rip Curl Pro Portugal.
There isn’t quite enough history between the two surfers to call it a historic rivalry, but the foundation is more than set after their Paris 2024 match-up. And the fact one of the most famous athletes in the world is jumping into the fray only amplifies the narrative. The two surfers have a healthy respect for each other and friendship, but in the water, I guarantee both will have this rivalry in mind. I’m hoping these two meet again soon at the Fiji Pro.
