Australian surfer George Pittar has defeated four Brazilian world champions to claim his first Championship Tour victory, celebrating with a characteristically Aussie expletive-laden outburst.
Pittar, 23, from Manly, took down three-time world champion Gabriel Medina in Sunday's final to win the Margaret River Pro. He had earlier beaten Filipe Toledo, Yago Dora, and Italo Ferreira in previous heats. Between them, the Brazilian quartet have won six of the past seven world surfing titles.
However, Pittar was peerless and capitalised on a rare error from Medina to secure the win. 'I haven't won a comp since I was 15 ... I just beat Medina in the final,' an emotional Pittar said immediately after the biggest achievement of his career. It was the first time he had surfed against the Brazilian great in a heat.
Pittar celebrated by shouting 'F**k yeah, c***!' as he hoisted the national flag while being chaired by fellow surfers Tim Macdonald and Jacob Willcox in a very Australian celebration.
In the women's final, 31-year-old American Lakey Peterson defeated 21-year-old Brazilian Luana Silva to win Margaret River for a second time. Peterson won 12.23 to 11.83 in a closely contested final that came down to the last few minutes.
Early in the men's final, Medina miscalculated and gave up priority to Pittar. As the Brazilian waved in futile protest, Pittar made the most of his opportunity, posting a 9.0 wave score – the highest of the entire men's competition – and held on to win 15.17 to 12.46.
The victory was a stark contrast to the same event a year ago, when Pittar missed the mid-season cut. That devastated the Australian, but he fought back to earn a return to the Championship Tour and is now a changed surfer. Before Sunday's final, he sat in the same spot at Margaret River where he had been in despair after missing the cut. 'It's kind of crazy how different the feelings are now,' Pittar said. 'Going out in the final against Medina – he's just a giant in my books ... to win in a place that's so special to me, it's a really great feeling.'
In 2024, Pittar announced himself as a future star at Margaret River by reaching the semi-finals as a wildcard. This time, he beat Toledo in round one, Dora in the quarter-finals, and Ferreira in the semi-finals earlier on Sunday. Pittar improved to second in the world rankings, while Medina, who missed all of last season due to a pectoral injury, returned to the number one spot.
