Weeks After Getting Rewarded With ‘Hall of Fame’ Award, 29-Year-Old Surfing Star Faces Huge Setback

Ítalo Ferreira is a known name in surfing. The athlete is the first surfer to secure a gold medal at the Olympics. The history-making surfer beat the US surfer Kanoa Igarashi to seal his win at the first Olympics men’s surfing held in Tokyo. This year, Ferreira also made his place amongst the legends of surfing and was introduced to the Hall of Surfers.

However, following these staunch accomplishments, the athlete has come across a huge setback. After a poor performance and skipping a few contests, the Brazilian authorities have taken a decision against Italo Ferreira. Many media outlets have confirmed Ferreira’s not making it to the Brazilian team for next year.

Surf legend Ferreira faces a setback

The Brazilian surfing prodigy Ítalo Ferreira will not be joining the Brazilian team for the Paris Olympics next year. The surfer, despite his staunch performance in the Tokyo Olympics, will be replaced by another top-notch Brazilian surfer. According to NBC Sports, “Brazilian surfing official  announced Gabriel Medina is in line to fill the nation’s last possible Olympic men’s sport.” The world champion will be joining Filipe Toledo and Joao Chianca, who have given their A game at this year’s WSL and secured their spot in the Olympic Brazilian team. The two five-man finals qualifiers currently hold the first and fourth rankings in the 2023 season.

As per the Brazilian team, the third spot will go to the next highest-ranked surfer of the season after Toledo and Chianca if the team wins the 2024 World Surfing Games. Currently, Medina, after a staunch comeback, holds the highest rank with the sixth position on the list. On the other hand, Olympian Ferreira is down to No. 13. The surfer, who is currently in sixth place amongst his teammates, also missed last week’s contest in Tahiti due to an injury. The surfer’s loss at the big games came only a few weeks before he etched his name in the surfer’s Hall of Fame.

Ítalo Ferreira etches his name in surfing

On August 4, 29-year-old Ítalo was honored by the surfing community. Ferreira was included among the legends of surfing and joined the Surfer’s Hall of Fame. The Brazilian surfer also got his hand and footprints etched on the Walk of Fame. Amid this, the athlete who seemed excited about this new honor, stated in his acceptance speech, “There’s a lot of history here and my history here, too, so I’m really, really stoked to be added”.

Also read: “Been Quite the Journey”: After Qualifying for 2024 Paris Olympics, American Surfing Prodigy Sends Out Candid Confession

In essence, this year has been filled with both highs and lows for Ítalo Ferreira. Hopefully, the athlete will be able to heal his injuries and get back to his form soon. As, despite the setback, the athlete still holds a high capability of striking magic on the water.

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