It’s no pipe dream

With his head down in concentration, Gabriel Medina walked down the beach from Off the Wall to Pipeline with a small contingent following him.

That relatively cozy situation was about to change. And fast. A minute later, Medina went from pondering his upcoming quarterfinals heat at the Billabong Pipe Masters on Friday to becoming the first Brazilian world surfing champion.

The deciding blow came when fellow Brazilian Alejo Muniz took down Australia’s Mick Fanning, the only other surfer still in the world-title race, in the fifth round. It was a much-needed helping hand from his countryman. Fanning, a three-time world champ, needed to advance to have a chance.

But the world championship was only one slice of the pie at Ehukai Beach on Friday. Australia’s Julian Wilson caught a last-minute heaving Backdoor tube in the Pipe Masters final to capture that distinguished title in highly dramatic fashion. With that wave and the Pipe event win over Medina, Wilson also put his mark on another slice of history by passing Dusty Payne to earn the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing championship by being the top surfer in the three North Shore season-ending winter events — the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach and the Pipe Masters.

Medina is a widely hailed sports icon in Brazil, rivaling in popularity the late Ayrton Senna of F-1 racing. This was a huge victory for all of Brazil, and a large contingent among the approximately 5,000 onlookers mobbed Medina with flags waving and with chants in Portuguese of "Go Medina."

"You have a dream, I reached my dream, I’m not dreaming anymore," said Medina, who earned $125,000 in bonus money for the world title.

Medina’s mother, Simone, was crying, waiting for a chance to hug her son.

"I’m so excited. I’m so nervous. I’m so emotional," she said through an interpreter. Meanwhile, a throng of fans ushered her son up away from the water to do a TV interview. Less than a half-hour later, Medina was in the water for his quarterfinal heat. After all, he still had a contest to try to win.

Earlier, Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champion, was eliminated from world-title contention when Medina pushed through into the fourth round. Muniz, Brazil’s hired gun of the day, so to speak, eliminated Slater from the competition in the last minute of their third-round heat with a gaping Backdoor barrel.

Another Brazilian in the competition, Filipe Toledo, was thrilled for Medina, his buddy.

"I’ve known him since I was young," said Toledo, who made it to the quarterfinals. "Now, he’s the world champ. That’s crazy. Brazil is the country of football. Maybe now, Brazil can be the country of surfing."

Medina was under pressure to perform. He failed in his bid to wrap up the world title in Portugal in October. Any stumble at the Pipe Masters on Friday and Medina could easily have gone home to Brazil without doing what many flew over from the home country to see.

But Medina was on fire from start to finish. He scored two 8.83 barrels — one at Pipe and one at Backdoor — in the third round to eliminate Payne. He also won his fourth-round heat and eliminated Toledo in the quarterfinals and Josh Kerr in the semifinals.

And then, it was Wilson’s turn to shine. After a so-so year on tour, Wilson turned it on in the Triple Crown events and saved his best for last.

In the Pipe final, Wilson needed an 8.08 to keep Medina from taking home some bonus hardware. Medina, who scored a 10-pointer earlier in the heat, was close to wrapping it up when Wilson caught the best Backdoor wave of the day and came out of the barrel with his arms raised high.

A few seconds later, Medina grabbed a large Pipe tube and came out, leaving the crowed wowed and the judges tabulating two very important season-ending waves. Eventually, Wilson got a 9.7 and Medina a 9.2, giving the event and the Triple Crown to Wilson.

"My day was not as good as Medina’s," Wilson said. "But second best (in the world) is pretty good. It doesn’t seem real to be holding the Pipe Masters trophy. This is the most special day of my life."

Wilson and Medina said they actually had a conversation before the final set, when Medina had priority.

"I asked him if he wanted the first one or the second one, and he said he would wait for the second, which was bigger," Wilson said. "I went and knew it was going to be a big score. I was in the whitewash and knew Gabe had a good score, too."

When he learned he had won after paddling in, Wilson said, "I fell face first into the sand and my whole crew of friends huddled together."

Medina said he told Wilson about what turned out to be the winning wave, "You can have it." He added, "I should have gone. The one I got wasn’t as nice, but I’m happy.

"This is the best day of my life."

Despite not getting his 12th world crown, Slater was in a good mood and energetic.

"Yeah, I felt like I had a chance all week and I felt great about it when I woke up, but that feeling disappeared when Gabe won (in the third round to eliminate Slater).

"It’s unbelievable how much support Gabe gets," Slater said. "I went to the store last night and there were two Brazilians for every one American. We don’t do that in our culture. My friends from Florida aren’t going to come here and wave signs. It is part of their culture and it’s amazing how many people from Brazil took time off to come here. That kind of support is unheard of for any surfer."

The waves were the unsung hero of the event, coming in with 12-foot faces from a northwest swell after several flat days in a row and another flat day predicted for Saturday, the last day of the holding period.

Along with $50,000 for the Triple Crown victory, Wilson pocketed $100,000 for the Pipe Masters win, and Medina earned $40,000 for second.