Australian surfer George Pittar beat four Brazilian world champions to claim his first championship tour win. Pittar took down three-time world champion Gabriel Medina in Sunday’s final to claim the Margaret River Pro.
The 23-year-old from Manly had also beaten Filipe Toledo, Yago Dora and Italo Ferreira in earlier heats – between them, the Brazilian fab four have won six of the past seven world surfing titles.
But Pittar was peerless and took full toll of a rare error from Medina to claim the final.
“I haven’t won a comp since I was 15 … I just beat Medina in the final,” an emotional Pittar said immediately after pulling off the highlight of his career.
It was the first time he has surfed in a heat against the Brazilian great.
Also on Sunday, 31-year-old American Lakey Peterson was too good for the women’s new guard, beating 21-year-old Brazilian Luana Silva in their final to win Margaret River for a second time.
Early in the men’s final, Medina miscalculated and gave up priority to Pittar. As he waved in futile protest, the Australian took full toll.
Pittar posted a 9.0 wave score – the highest of the whole men’s competition – and held on to win 15.17 to 12.46.
It was in stark contrast to the same event a year ago, when Pittar missed the mid-season cut. That devastated the Australian, but he fought back back to earn a return to the championship tour and he is a changed surfer.
Pittar was also the best-performing Australian in the men’s event of the opening round at Bells Beach earlier this month, where he was the only local to reach the third round.
Before Sunday’s final, on the last day of the event window, he went and sat in the same place 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, then Dora in their quarter-final on Saturday and Ferreira earlier on Sunday in the semi-finals.
Pittar improved to second on the world rankings, while Medina, who missed all of last season because of a pectoral injury, returned to the No 1 spot.
The see-sawing women’s final came down to the last couple of minutes and Peterson won 12.23 to 11.83.
“I’ve come a long way with this place … I’ve definitely built an amazing connection [here],” said Peterson, who also won Margaret River in 2019.
This is her first championship tour event win since J-Bay in 2023.
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