Gabriel Medina Round 2 backflip - video
Gabriel Medina lands the first-ever backflip rotation in competition to earn a perfect 10. Medina also landed a frontside air reverse for a 9.40 to post a near-perfect 19.40 heat score.
For a full recap of Round 2 at the Rio Pro click here.
Comments
Pretty amazing, and he is an amazing surfer.
But if we saw them all time i think they would get old pretty quick, to me that's the measure of the difference between a trick and a maneuver, if you saw it performed on every wave what would you think?.
For example a good lip smack i could watch them be done every wave hence a maneuver "a movement or series of moves requiring skill and care." (google meaning)
While something like this although amazing once mastered by many and became more common i couldn't watch every wave hence a trick "a skilful act performed for entertainment or amusement." (google meaning)
Dance monkey. Perform your cute tricks.
I tend to agree Indo. Manouvres tend to be functional, where as a trick is purely for the points and the resultant peacock claim.
Still. At what point does a trick start to become a manouvre?
If anyone was going to do it it was going to be Gabs.
Totally agree with Indo though.
Amazing but it sure aint pretty.
I liked it, could of done without the claim though. It's only early days for these things to be done in competition.
I'm looking forward to when they do them as there first manoeuver at somewhere like 6ft cloudbreak then follow it up with a few more turns and tubes.
Actually jjf has done a few at solid backdoor then followed it up with other turns on the same wave.
Good on Gabs for having a crack anyway
technically not a backflip,
more of a corked 3 if anything
.
Does anyone else see similarities? Obviously the direction of twist was different but Gabby didn't seem much more upside down than Taj on that rotation.
Compared to a snowboard backflip where feet are attached to board.
Or Skateboarding
[quote=Wharfjunkie
Or Skateboarding
Skating where feet are not attached WF?
Medina's rotation was definitely more vertical... Also, Taj pulled that maneuver during a free surf (God knows how many attempts before he landed it) while Medina did it in competition.
Plus, no one said it was the first ever landed backflip, Flynn Novak did it back in 2010...
Regardless, it was sick, definitely a 10 given the shitty conditions on offer.
Peace!
Look at the landings Marcio, Taj's was cleaner and he continued to ride the wave it compared to Medina's race to get speed before hitting the end section. Move was good no doubt was just interesting to look at a similar rotation.
The reason we are even discussing it as what else can you do in that CRAP. This is really embarrassing. Worlds best surfers in the worlds best waves? Yeah sure. I watched my son get a great dredging barrel and finish it with a reo late Saturday evening. Looked way better than that. Please piss this contes off.
:)
Nice
Respect
It's all about context. These types of waves are only good for tricks. So long as the WSL hold contests in these types of waves what else are the surfers supposed to do?!?
I think the issue becomes a serious problem when the surfers are rewarded higher scores for doing tricks in waves that offer other options. That said, like Goofy eluded to, if they can pull this shit off after being spat out of a deep pit then welcome to the new era of comp surfing.....
The scary thing is Rabs is that Medina CAN pull that shit off after being spat out of a deep pit.
The kids the full package.
Exactly.
He is scary good - when he gets his head in the right place.
And while I can appreciate the talk about functional vs flashy, how frign functional is getting barrelled? Apart from backdooring a section you couldn't otherwise make it around, the barrel is something we stall for, twist ourselves into strange positions to get in to etc. But it is beautiful, risky, difficult, and therefore rightfully gets scored highly.
Competitive surfing is so conservative, as are many surfers.
No doubt he's got the comp surfing act sorted Zen. I was more referring to him pulling such tricks in bigger waves of consequence but maybe he's already doing that too :)
Kelly did say quite a few years ago that Medina would win multiple WTs & Kelly is a pretty good judge of surfing talent I would of thought.
The trick stuff in surfing is interesting. For me personally I continue to desire to master a solid all-round game rather than desire to learn to do tricks/backflips etc. I'm sure its an age thing too.....
100% agree with insiderz comment... FFS, when is the over claim click bait bullshit going to stop? Fuck, look at clips in wharfies comment... Chalk n cheese.
And, how's medina's claim... Fuck, he needs a dose of humility.
From Facebook: "Should've been a 9, or else what would the judges have given if he does the same trick whilst sending a text about it at the same time?"
Hahahaha...
Reminds me of that old adage: "you can't command respect, you've gotta earn it" ... I figure its the same with surfing performance. Let the audience decide, not the performer. Can you imagine an actor, delivering a brilliant performance only to finish their line, the scene and then turn to the audience and seek applause? Or, what about a golfer, tennis player, basketball or baseball pkayer who hits a perfect shot, makes an impossible shot, but then stops and "claims it" mid game?
It's obvious there is no "belly" in the Medina management team!
I can't even do a proper bunny hop let alone a full blown air, but these guys are supposed to be the best and that is what I want to see.
It did nothing for me. I personally didn't think it was that brilliant let alone a score of 10 for a pump, pump, pump, air, BIG CLAIM. Really, 10 points? Or was that all that was on offer at Rio? I don't watch it cause it never seems to have contest waves that interest me.
I don't know, I lost all respect (not that I had any for him in the first place) with his behavior at Portugal several years back, so maybe I'm biased and nothing he does will change this grumpy old pricks mind.
Bring on Fiji and Tahiti.
I'm with you fitzroy... Grumpy old prick and all!
On film, I am pretty unmoved by aerials.
But, I have been in the water with someone landing big clean aerials and they looked and sounded amazing!
I think aerials lose a lot when on the screen.
At least he landed it cleanly, and it was in Rio where the waves offered nothing. A nothing wave ridden as well as it could be.
I'm still unimpressed by judges giving him an overblown score for a barely landed aerial at Pipe, where aerials are supposed to score 4/5ths of 5/8ths of FA, and he gets a 7 or so and knocks out, who was it, Mick Fanning on his world title chase?
That one grates.