The 1st South American Beach Games surfing competition came to an end with a great performance of the Brazilian Team, winning three out of four gold medals
1st South American Beach Games
Punta del Este, Uruguay
December 13, 2009
The Surfing competition of the 1st South American Beach Games came to an end today, Sunday, December 13, in a true Olympic spirit. The winners’ flags waved at the podium and the gold medal country anthems were played. It was a great surfing day, with waves reaching six-foot with good conditions.
The Brazilian Team was the standout, winning the gold in the two divisions held today: Aloha Cup and Air Show, achieving with this, three out of the four gold medals in contention of the entire surfing competition.
Gabriel Medina (BRA) posted the highest scores in the Air Show qualification heats and went to the final as the man to beat. Once in the last heat of the day, and after landing a massive aerial maneuver that gave him a 9.17 he confirmed why he was considered the favorite and jumped to the first place to win the gold medal. The silver went to Peruvian Matías Mulanovich and bronze to Argentinean Martín Passeri.
The Brazilian Team won the Aloha Cup by a large margin. Alejo Muniz (Power surfer), Jadson André, Miguel Pupo, Gabriel Medina and Camila Cassia did a wise wave selection and excellent time administration leaving the other three finalist countries needing a combination of waves to beat them. Peru won the silver and Argentina the bronze.
Once the event was over, the Olympic protocol was followed for the medals ceremony. International Olympic Committee member and Uruguayan Olympic Committee President, Julio Maglione honored the event by awarding the medals to the winners. International Surfing Association Vice President, Karín Sierralta and Pan American Surfing Association President, Maile Aguerre joined him.
“I’m honored that surfing was part of the Games program. Surfing is a key element of the youth and beach culture around the world. Congratulations to ODESUR for their leadership with this event. The South American Olympic teams included to very top athletes from each country. This was an elite surfing event, and I’m very confident just one extra step towards Olympic Summer Games Program inclusion” said the President of the International Surfing Association Mr. Fernando Aguerre.
The next edition of the South American Beach Games will be held in Manta, Ecuador in 2011.
The final results were
Women
Gold: Analí Gómez (PER)
Silver: Camila Cassia (BRA)
Bronze: Gabriela Leite (BRA)
Men
Gold: Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Silver: Rafael Pereira (VEN)
Bronce: Leandro Usuna (ARG)
Aloha Cup – Tag Team
Gold: Brazil
Silver: Peru
Bronze: Argentina
Air Show
Gold: Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Silver: Matías Mulanovich (PER)
Bronze: Martín Passeri (ARG)
FOLLOW THE BEACH GAMES
The official website of the South American Beach Games is www.uruguay2009.com. The dedicated Surfing contest website is www.surfingbeachgames.com. There you will find the results, photos, videos and all the news of surfing in the Beach Games.
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About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).
