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DAY EIGHT
RESULTS: THE 2006 LOST ENERGY DRINK ISA WORLD SURFING GAMES
Australia
takes the Gold as Team
Champions
Individual Gold goes to
Jordy Smith and Mathew Moir of South Africa, Julia Christian of USA, Manuel
Centavo of Portugal and Kira Llewellyn of Australia
Huntington Beach,
Calif.,
October 22, 2006 –
The 2006 Lost Energy ISA World Surfing Games concluded today with one of
the closest final point scores in the Games history with team
Australia winning the World
Champion title with a total point score of 15,848. Brazil
took the silver medal with a total of 15,123 followed by
USA winning the bronze with 14,505
points and
South Africa garnering the bronze
with 13,346. The nine day event brought together 33 countries and over 300
surfers, some who came with full teams and others were proud to participate
on behalf of their respective countries alone.
The morning of the Finals was met with fog hovering
over the
Huntington Beach break, but it quickly burned
off to reveal semi-glassy conditions with chest high to overhead waves. The
beach was teeming with national spirit as all the countries reconvened
waving their team flags and cheering for the final countries still in the
race for the pursuit for gold.
The Final of Men’s Bodyboarding wrapped up a week of
wild maneuvers and an impressive showing from all competing countries.
Manuel Centeno and Hugo Pinheiro of
Portugal, whose team standing came
in at 7th were awarded the gold and silver medal, followed by
Andrew Lester of
Australia taking bronze, and Alvaro
Pardon of
Spain winning the copper. “This is
so important for us to be on the same level as everyone else,” Centeno
beamed. The entire
Portugal team met the boarders on
the beach and broke into the national anthem after the heat.
In the Women’s Open, Julia Christian former ISA Junior
World Champion and
USA team member took the gold over
Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva with just
a .10 point difference. “I have competed against Jackie on the WCT before,
and it is always very close and exciting because she is a great surfer. This
was such a special event for me because typically I compete for myself on
tour but here it’s for my country,” remarked Christian. The heat was filled
with a dramatic wave by wave battle resulting in Christian narrowly grasping
the gold. Rosanne Hodge of
South Africa earned a bronze, and
Courtney Conlogue, the youngest surfer in the competition won copper.
Womens Body boarding matched
France’s Heloise Bourroux against
Natasha Sagardia of
Puerto Rico, Neymara Carvalho of
Brazil and Kira Llewellyn of
Australia. After posting two
strong scores of 6.83 and 5.60 it was Llewellyn that earned the gold after
advancing through the Repercharge rounds, Carvalho silver, Sagardia bronze
and Bourroux copper.
There was quite an impressive resume behind all of the
competitors in the Longboard final. Six-time South African champion Matthew
Moir defeated Harley Ingleby of Australia, Benjamin Skinner of UK and Bonga
Perkins of Hawaii when he surfed a flawless heat hanging ten, cross stepping
the board and kicking in big bottoms for the gold medal. “This is my first
time on the team and I am so stoked. I was stuck in the start of the heat
but I really focused for this event, mixing traditional noseriding with
modern day floaters and air and pushed through. I am just so honored to be
here and win,” said an elated Moir. Benjamin Skinner of
Great Britain impressed judges all
week and was awarded the silver medal, Harley Ingleby bronze, and Bonga
Perkins copper.
In the climatic end of the Men’s Open Final it was
Jordy Smith of
Cape Town,
South Africa that punctuated his week of tremendous
surfing; pulling wild aerials and superman maneuvers to earn the gold
medal. Smith, 2003 Junior World Champion was deemed a “force of nature” for
his exceptional surfing amidst the event and was followed by
Australia’s Luke Stedman winning
the silver medal, Pat O’Connell of
USA winning bronze and Armando
Daltro of
Brazil earning copper. “This means
the world to me. It was tough to make it through the whole contest, but I
did what I had to do to get to the final and win it. I am really happy,”
said a smiling Smith.
The day also included the final for the ISA Nations
Cup tag team event, a unique ISA tradition where the top eight countries
compete for first through fourth place medals. Although the tag team has no
bearing on the championships results, it is a fun aside to the contest and
saw
Australia taking gold,
Brazil silver,
South Africa bronze and
Costa Rica copper.
The Awards Ceremony was an emotional, pride filled
ending to a great week of surfing. Fernando Aguerre, President of the ISA
read a poem from a friend in
England which reflected on the week
and brought a poignant summation to the Games.
Mike Gerard, Executive Director of Surfing
America greeted the crowd, “what a beautiful event it was and how honored we
are to welcome all of the nations here to share these waves at beautiful
Surf City
USA.” Special medals were given to the entire judging
staff, as well as the newly elected Vice Presidents of the ISA.
Additionally Pirata, a figure of inspiration for all surfers was presented
an award for his great contributions to the sport and his tireless
commitment despite his disability. Aguerre closed the highly lauded event by
saying, “remember in life the only time you fail is when you give up on your
dream. Remember don’t give up on surfing.”
The ISA is thrilled to host the 2008 ISA World Surfing
Games in Portugal. For complete competition results and free photos please
visit www.isasurf.org.
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