There are sporting feats that undermine the boundaries of geographical logic. Seeing an athlete born and raised on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea dominate the giants of the ocean belongs to this category of competitive miracles. This is what happened on the night of Saturday 13 June to the Italian Leonardo Fioravanti who wrote the most important page in the history of Italian surfing, winning the victory at Surf City El Salvador Profifth stop on the prestigious elite circuit of the World Surf League (WSL).
On the powerful right hands of Punta Roca, in the town of La Libertad, the twenty-eight year old from Cerveteri crowned a ten-year long pursuit, releasing with a cry of emotion the frustration for the triumphs he had missed in the past, such as the scorching final lost in Pipeline, Hawaii.
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The path to the finals and the strategic management of the semi-final
The path of the Roman surfer, who competes with the iconic number 46 in homage to Valentino Rossi, was a test of technical maturity and psychological stability. Fioravanti built his masterpiece by overcoming the fearsome Brazilians Mateus Herdy and Samuel Pupo in the preliminary rounds. On the decisive day, the Italian first eliminated the Frenchman Marco Mignot in the quarter-finals, scoring a resounding 9.00, which is the highest single score of the entire contest.
Subsequently, in the semifinals, he faced his historic childhood friend and rival Kanoa Igarashi. Against the Japanese, Fioravanti mortgaged the heat with a great first wave, and then managed with strong nerves a risky phase of tactical stasis, resolved in the last minutes thanks to a providential second wave choice.
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The final against the king of the Olympic Games Italo Ferreira
The last act proposed a seemingly prohibitive challenge against the yellow jersey of the tour and leader of the general classification, the Brazilian Italo Ferreira, already world champion in 2019 and gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Although Ferreira had entered the final after beating Gabriel Medina in the semi-final and with a heavily bandaged knee due to cuts suffered on the cobbles of the spot, the South American had to give way.
Fioravanti immediately took command of the operations, printing a splendid initial wave of 8.33 points, consolidated shortly afterwards by a solid 7.00. An impeccable combination that secured the leadership until the siren, sparking celebrations from colleagues Ramzi Boukhiam and Connor O’Leary, who carried the Roman in triumph onto the beach.
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New balances in the world ranking in view of the next stage in Brazil
The reactions of the Italian Federation (Fissw) led by president Claudio Ponzani, who stayed awake to follow the nightly live broadcast, celebrate an epochal turning point that gives enormous international visibility to the Italian movement. This success projects Fioravanti to third place in the world ranking, making a leap forward of six positions.
Leo thus stands as the only non-Brazilian athlete to occupy the top of the rankings, placing himself behind Ferreira and Medina. Having archived the celebrations shared remotely with his wife Sophia Wilson, married last September, the world surfing caravan will now move to South America for the VIVO Rio Pro in Saquarema, scheduled from 19 to 27 June, the turning point of a season in which the tricolor flies proudly on the crests of the world.
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