'A whole year's film is coming': Yago Dora reveals tension before winning the surfing world championship

Summary Yago Dora won the world surfing title at the WSL Finals in Fiji, defeating Griffin Colapinto, crowning a remarkable season in his career and reinforcing Brazil's dominance in the sport.

"The entire year starts to replay in your head, with all the doubts, all the pressure, all the adversities you have to face to win a world title": this is how Yago Dora describes the moments he experienced before being announced as the newest world surfing champion . The Curitiba native raised in Florianópolis , Santa Catarina, lifted the trophy after winning the WSL Finals at Cloudbreak in Fiji.

World ranking leader and owner of the yellow jersey, Dora waited for the development of the clashes and watched the American Griffin Colapinto defeat Italo Ferreira , 2019 world champion, and the South African Jordy Smith to then jump into the water and compete in the last heat of the Finals, last Monday, the 1st.

Even though the swell wasn't at its best in Cloudbreak, Dora presented the vast repertoire that led him to have the best season of his career , including winning two titles: assertive, the Brazilian adapted to the adversity of the waves and made few mistakes in the heat.

The result of the strategy was two high scores that totaled a score of 15.66 (7.33 + 8.33), while Colapinto, with 12.33 (6.33 + 6.00), would need to land a wave with a score higher than 9. The North American tried, but was unable to reach the Brazilian's mark.

With the 'Cascão' look and a slight malaise after celebrating the title the night before, Yago Dora spoke to Terra about the moment in which he awaited, still at sea, the definition of the dispute and the 'crowning' of a successful season marked by changes in his career.

"I watched part of his wave, and he needed a really high score. I saw him surfing and I knew he wasn't going to get the score. But it's crazy, a movie plays in your head. The feeling that came over me was that the moment was very quick, like: 'Is that it? Is it over?'" he recalls.

"But then the whole year starts to come to mind. Everything we have to go through and overcome to win a world title and keep going, stay in the fight, keep believing the whole time. It's very exciting," he adds.

With the victory, Yago Dora reinforced the dominance of the 'Brazilian Storm' in world surfing: eight titles won in the last 11 seasons. Only Hawaiian John John Florence has managed to stop Brazil's dominance on the boards.

Dora also joined Gabriel Medina, Adriano de Souza, Filipe Toledo, and Italo Ferreira on the list of Brazilian world champions in elite surfing. For Ivan Martinho, president of the WSL in Latin America, Brazil is experiencing a "virtuous cycle" in global surfing.

"In the water, our athletes accumulate historic titles. Outside of it, we host the biggest events, leading viewership and fan bases. This movement feeds back: each victory increases our global relevance, and the consequences are increasingly better conditions for new champions to emerge," he analyzes.

The newest world champion, who won the Trestles stage in California, United States, this season, is looking forward to his next challenges and is looking forward to participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm really looking forward to fighting for my spot in the Olympics. This year I won at Trestles, and that gives me great confidence, an extra desire to be there at the Los Angeles Games. There's still some time to go, but it's definitely a goal of mine. Having won a world title, this experience helps me too," he said.