Bigger than Neymar? Brazilian surfer Medina eyes golden future
Medina became the first Brazilian to win the world title in 2014
ICHINOMIYA (AFP) - Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina thinks he could be as big as football superstar Neymar in his home country if he wins Olympic gold, with the sport enjoying a popularity boom.
Medina became the first Brazilian to win the world title in 2014, catapulting him into the national spotlight and igniting an unprecedented run of success for the country’s surfers.
Medina, Italo Ferreira and Adriano de Souza have all claimed the world title since then, but Medina believes winning Olympic gold would send surfing’s popularity into the stratosphere.
"Probably, yeah," he said on Monday, when asked if winning the sport’s first-ever gold medal would make him as popular as Neymar in Brazil.
"A medal here means a lot to us because it’s so hard to be here. It’s a lot of work and dedication, and they know that. And they like a winner."
Medina and Ferreira -- the 2019 world champion -- both booked their places in the quarter-finals on Monday, with Silvana Lima also progressing in the women’s event.
Brazil’s phenomenal surfing success over the past decade has established the country as a global powerhouse, dubbed the "Brazilian Storm".
Medina said his 2014 world title was a life-changing experience, and sparked an interest among Brazilian fans usually more interested in football and volleyball.
"After 2014, I feel like everyone started to watch and try to understand more about surfing," said Medina, who also won the world title in 2018.
"Everywhere I go in Brazil, people recognise me as a surfer. It’s crazy. Before 2014 was one life, and after that was a different life."
Ferreira, who learned to surf standing on the foam box his father sold fish from, believes a gold medal in Tokyo would cement Brazil’s recent rise in world surfing.
"It’s special representing your country and having support from the Brazilian guys," he said.
"To the surfers in Brazil, it’s special because in the past, Australia and the USA has dominated surfing."
