Gabriel Medina Slams WSL Judges for Questionable Call at Bells Beach (Watch)
Once again, the World Surf League judging panel is under fire.
After a heat in the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, 3x world champ Gabriel Medina slammed the judges for a questionable call, causing him to lose in the dying seconds.
He was, safe to say, pretty baffled by the situation.
“I did a mistake? This is funny,” he told Laura Enever after the heat.
He continued:
“This is the worst judging I have ever seen. It’s bad for the sport. I’ve been through a lot of judging things, but maybe this is the worst one.
“It’s something we’ve gotta talk about. It’s happening. It’s bad for the sport. I just hope they can improve and get better. Hopefully they listen more to us.
Related: World Surf League Responds to Judging Controversy, Death Threats
“They gave the best score of the heat to the last wave, which was pretty small; I didn’t even paddle. I’m just going to focus on my surfing, but this is sad. So much traveling, so much on the line, we train a lot…I just feel bad. It sucks.”
Throughout the majority of the heat, Medina held the lead over San Clemente, CA newcomer to the Tour, Cole Houshmand. But then, with just under two minutes on the clock, Houshmand took off on a smaller wave. As Medina mentioned, he had priority and let the wave go. Houshmand needed a score, and he undeniably ripped the wave to bits.
But Medina wasn’t having it. As you may recall, he led the charge in calling out the WSL judging panel last season after a controversial call at the Surf Ranch Pro. That time, he was up against another San Clemente surfer…Griffin Colapinto.
A blossoming rivalry – San Clemente vs. Brazil – on Tour?
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