Ítalo Ferreira da Costa (born 6 May 1994) is a Brazilian professional surfer hailing from a small community of

Baía Formosa Baía Formosa (lit. "beautiful bay") is the easternmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte and the first coastal city (going south–north) of that state, lying near the border with Paraíba. With an area of , of which is u ...

, in

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", refe ...

on the northeastern coast of Brazil.

Early life

Ferreira learned to surf on a three-foot-long lid of a coolbox his father used to transport fish to sell to restaurants in Baia Formosa. He quickly progressed to a real board and at 12 years of age, his talent was noticed and then nurtured by fellow surfer Jadson Andre and the legendary Brazilian surf coach, Luiz 'Pinga' Campos, who was then marketing director of one of the world's leading surf brands.

Career

Soon after, Ítalo won two rounds of the Junior World Championship in 2011 (finishing runner-up in the category overall), won the Brazilian Championship and in 2014, he finally qualified for the World Championship Tour. Ferreira first gained notoriety on the Championship Tour during his 2015 rookie season. During his breakout year, he made the semifinals in Rio and the quarterfinals in Fiji, Tahiti, and France before making his first CT Final in Portugal. Italo won the Rookie of the Year award after finishing his year 7th in the rankings. However, his rookie season was followed by a few inconsistent seasons. He had bright spots in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

with semifinal appearances at Bells and

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Australia, southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River, Western Australia, Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment ...

but was stopped in round five seven times, finishing the year 15th in the rankings. He looked on track to rebound in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

after a strong fifth-place finish at Snapper, but two days after the event, he tore ligaments in his ankle, and he missed the next three stops. Eventually, he finished 22nd in the rankings. He bounced back almost immediately in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, with event wins at Bells, Keramas, and Supertubos, finishing the season 4th in the rankings. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Ítalo started by winning the first tour stop of the year on the Australian Gold Coast. Later, he also won the inaugural Red Bull Airborne event. He would continue the season with a victory at MEO Pro Portugal and final runner-up finishes at the

J-Bay Open J-Bay Open a.k.a. Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay is an event on the World Surf League. The event is held every year at Jeffreys Bay in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Inaugural winner Dan Austin, Kelly Slater, and Mick Fanning share the most victorie ...

and Quicksilver Pro France. The final event of the year was at the

Pipe Masters The Pipe Pro is an event in surfing held annually at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. It was established in 1971 and has been sponsored by Yeti Coolers, who have a three year partnership in place, which began in 2023. The event attracts the top ...

, where Ítalo contested the title with his compatriot

Gabriel Medina Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira (born 22 December 1993) is a Brazilian professional surfer. He won the 2014, 2018 and 2021 WSL World Championships. In two appearances at the Olympic surfing tournament, Medina won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olym ...

in the finals, eventually winning the event, and becoming World Surfing Champion for the first time in his career On July, 27th, 2021, Ferreira won the first men's Olympic surfing gold medal in the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. On 4 August 2023, Ferreira became the first Brazilian born surfer to be inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame. Italo started the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

season as the reigning world champion, due to the 2020 season being paused due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, he was a semi-finalist in the first stage of the year at Pipeline and won the second stage of the year, the

Rip Curl Newcastle Cup To rip is the act of tearing an object. Rip may also refer to: Places * Nioro du Rip, a town in the southern Kaolack Region of Senegal * 7711 Říp, an asteroid * Rip Bridge, New South Wales Australia * Říp, a mountain in the Czech Republic ...

in Australia. He finished the regular season in second place, securing a spot in the WSL Finals 2021. In Match 3 he was defeated by compatriot

Filipe Toledo Filipe Toledo (born 16 April 1995) is a Brazilian professional surfer who has competed on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2013. He is a second-generation pro who grew up outside of Ubatuba, Brazil, on the northeastern coast of the sta ...

and finished the season in 3rd place. In the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

season, his best results were 3 semifinals. He finished the regular season in 4th place, securing a spot in the WSL Finals again. He had a great campaign, winning the first 3 matches and reaching the title match. He faced Toledo for the second year in a row. Italo lost the first 2 Rounds and finished the season as world runner-up. In the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

season, Ítalo started the season poorly, achieving enough results to escape the mid-season cut. In the sixth stage, at the

Surf Ranch Pro The Surf Ranch Pro is a professional surfing competition, currently one of the events of the World Surf League. The competition is held annually at Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California. Held for the first time in 2018, it was the firs ...

Ítalo made his only final of the season, losing to

Griffin Colapinto Griffin Colapinto ( ; born July 29, 1998) is an American professional surfer who has competed on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2018. Colapinto has finished twice in the top three of the World Surf League Championship, in 2023 an ...

in a very controversial title match. He finished the season in 13th place, his worst season since 2017. In the

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

season, Ítalo started slowly again, passing the mid-season cut. In the sixth stage of the year, Ítalo won his first stop since 2021. He won the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro against

John John Florence John "John John" Alexander Florence (born October 18, 1992) is an American professional surfing, surfer. He is considered one of the most dominant Banzai Pipeline, pipe surfers of his era and won back-to-back world titles on the 2016 World Surf ...

for the first time in his career. He also won the VIVO Rio Pro for the first time, beating

Yago Dora Yago Dora (born May 18, 1996), is a Brazilian professional surfer who is in the World Surf League. Early life Yago Dora was born in Curitiba, but developed his passion for surfing when his family moved to Florianópolis, encouraged by his fath ...

in the final. He finished the regular season in 5th place, going to the WSL Finals for the third time. He had another great campaign, winning 3 matches and reaching the title match against John John. In the final he lost two rounds and ended the season for the second time in his career as world runner-up. Italo started the

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

season very well, making the semi-finals at Pipe and winning the first event in the history of the WSL in the Middle East, the

Surf Abu Dhabi Pro Surf is the region of breaking waves on a shoaling area of water such as a shoreline or reef. Surf or SURF may also refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "S ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

wave pool, beating

Rio Waida is an Indonesian surfer. He won a silver medal for Indonesia at the SEA Games in Philippines, while the gold medal was won by fellow Indonesian surfer, Oney Anwar. He competed for Indonesia in surfing at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. Pers ...

in the final.

Career victories

WSL World Championship Tour

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Italo Brazilian surfers 1994 births Living people World Surf League surfers Olympic surfers for Brazil Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in surfing