Photo: Disclosure/DINO
Surfer from Rio Grande do Norte Italo Ferreira is out of the Paris Olympic Games, but his presence was confirmed in the competition in another way. With one hundred days to go before the start of the games, Globo announced that the athlete will be part of the broadcaster’s panel of commentators covering the event.
At 27 years old, Italo was a gold medalist in Tokyo and became the first champion of the sport in the history of the Olympics. The surfer also has the world circuit title on his resume in 2019.
Last year, he did not qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, leaving the two Brazilian spots in men’s surfing to Filipe Toledo and João Chianca. Gabriel Medina achieved an extra position in the competition after winning the ISA Games, held in March, in Puerto Rico.
Away from the waves, Italo is now in charge of narrating the maneuvers on screen. “Of course, the desire to be there surfing and representing Brazil is huge, but my fans here will be even bigger. It’s going to be a challenge and I’m looking forward to bringing to the Brazilians all my knowledge and experience of being the first surfing gold medalist at the Olympics”, assured Italo.
This is not the first time that the native of Rio Grande do Norte has taken a break from professional surfing to act in front of the cameras. Launched in 2020, the series “Parque do Italo” recorded the athlete’s lifestyle in his hometown, Baía Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte, and was nominated for the best sports entertainment category at the New York Festivals 2021, in the United States. .
For two seasons, the Canal Off series followed the athlete’s intimacy, always surrounded by friends. “Baía Formosa was transformed into a large amusement park where Italo competed with his friends in different sports”, says João Muniz, cinematographer for the series.
Specializing in surfing, Muniz has worked on several audiovisual projects with Italo, including a global campaign by the World Surf League to protect the oceans. According to the professional, the surfer has “a magnetic charisma for the cameras”. “He is driven by action, in and out of the sea”, says the professional, who recorded Italo in some of the biggest waves in the world, in Nazaré, Portugal.
Now, Italo’s next big maneuver will be on the Globo screen, helping the public to understand the chances of Brazilians Filipe Toledo, Gabriel Medina and João Chianca, representatives among men, and Tatiana Weston-Webb, Tainá Hinckel and Luana Silva, among the women.
The Paris Olympic Games begin on July 26th and run until August 11th. Globo will have multiplatform coverage, with more than 400 professionals involved, with 16 reporting teams in Paris and one in Tahiti, the country that hosts the surfing competitions.
