Italo Avoids Serious Injury
An awkward landing in his Elimination Round heat against Ian Gentil, resulted in a DNF for Italo Ferreira and a lift to shore on the back of a jet ski.
Even worse was the prospect of serious knee injury, which repeated viewing of the wave appeared to suggest. With his back foot falling off the board, Italo's front knee folded sideways till it lay on the deck of the board.
The news, however, is good - or at least good as can be. From Italo's Instagram account this morning:
"So had some tests done and found a bruise in the medial collateral ligament - no signs of tearing (strong leg).
"I'm returning to Brazil for new exams and to start the physical therapy process."
It's not known if he'll be fit to surf Teahupoo, which begins in three weeks on August 11th. On one hand, it's near impossible for him to make the Top 5 at Trestles (Italo would have to win Teahupoo, while Yago, Gabs, John, and Jack would all have to come last or close to it), while on the other, as the reigning gold medallist it'll be an invaluable opportunity to test himself before next year's Olympics.
Comments
More flexible than Gumby!
Italo has always attacked it like there's no tomorrow, gutsy surfer I've always admired. Get well soon champ
Good news, hope he is back asap!
Does italo get an automatic start to next years Olympics given he’s the current champ? Would only seem fair really.
Great to hear. Looks like all those insta gym posts weren't just for show.
Shows how beneficial a good strength workout regime can be for surfing and injury prevention.
interesting- could he be talking it down…the way he looked afterward seemed to be serious?
If there’s no tear then it would be a 1-3 week thing. The way he seemed post injury suggested something worse. I guess we’ll see. Good luck big fella.
vid looks gnarly
stomach just rolled over
Looked bad. Couldn't help himself talking up his leg strength, could he? Hasn't been anywhere near the front runners this year so I'm sure we won't see him at Chopes
Good news. Obvious benefits to his training regime.
Don’t think he can qualify for the olympics anyway can he ? There is already three brazzo’s ahead of him and only two go through ?