In fitting fashion, the best heat of the entire Billabong Pro Tahiti event occurred during the incredible Final between No. 9-ranked Gabriel Medina and No. 8-ranked Julian Wilson. The two have battled in Finals before, most recently during the Pipe Masters in 2014, when Julian pulled an incredible comeback victory to take the win. On Sunday in Tahiti, Wilson was able to somehow repeat the feat during the waning moments of competition, despite sitting in a combination situation (needing two new scores to catch up) with just over five minutes to go.
Wilson's final two rides were his best of his entire Tahiti campaign -- the first was a 9.23, and he followed with 9.73, which shot him out of the barrel and into this year's World Title race. With his third career victory Wilson is now ranked No. 5 on the Jeep Leaderboard, and very much in the Title hunt. Wilson is now only 4,500 points behind the new Jeep Leader, Jordy Smith, who finished with a 3rd, which is his best-ever result at Teahupo'o. "With so many events left, I am really looking forward to it," Wilson said afterward. "I was already enjoying myself on Tour and even more so now. I cannot wait for the rest of the year."
Joe Turpel, Peter Mel and Martin Potter break it all down in their final report from Tahiti.