TONIC Autumn 2014 Issue - 50th Anniversary Autumn 2014 | Page 6

TONIC | news Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Brazilian Gabriel Medina’s historic triumph makes him the first Brazilian and only the second goofy-footer ever to win the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Medina beat 2013 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast runnerup Joel Parkinson in a nail-biting Final and maintained his trend of come-from-behind victories in the final minutes. Medina previously dispatched reigning threetime World Champion, Mick Fanning, in the Quarterfinals and multiple Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Champion, Taj Burrow, in the Semifinals. Photo Cestari/ASP 6 – autumn IssuE “It’s an honor to win this event,” said Medina. “This is the hardest event of the whole Tour and I feel like all the best surfers in the world, Mick (Fanning), Parko (Joel Parkinson) and Taj (Burrow), have won it. It’s been a dream to win since I was a grommet. I’ve been watching those guys on videos and reading about them in magazines. Today I had the opportunity to compete against them and I couldn’t let this chance go. It’s weird, it’s really weird, but it feels so good.” “Second two years in a row is heartbreaking, but on the other hand it’s still a great start to the year,” Parkinson said. “I said the other day that World Titles aren’t won or lost at the first event. If I didn’t have a shocker at Bells last year I would have been right in the Title race, so hopefully I can improve on that this year. Gabriel (Medina) is a huge talent, he deserves the win and has been on fire today so congrats to him.” Stephanie Gilmore, five-time ASP Women’s World Champion, claimed her fifth Roxy Pro Gold Coast event title, with a sensational performance. Gilmore dispatched reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore in your regular dose of Surf News.