2019 World Champion Italo Ferreira is one of the most explosive surfers in the business, and the high-flying Brazilian will soon take his high-energy approach to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, after provisionally qualifying to represent his country.

He first gained notoriety on the Championship Tour during his 2015 rookie season with a spellbinding aerial attack and vicious rail game. During his breakout year, he made the semifinals in Rio, and the quarterfinals in Fiji, Tahiti, and France before making his first CT Final in Portugal. Italo ran away with the Rookie of the Year award after finishing his remarkable year ranked at No. 7.

From that time on, many considered him a serious Title threat, including his hero Mick Fanning. After that rookie year; however, the kid from Baia Formosa endured a few ups and downs. He had bright spots in 2016 with Semifinal appearances at Bells and Margaret River, but was stopped in Round Five seven-straight times, and fell to No. 15. He looked on track to rebound in 2017 after a strong fifth-place finish at Snapper, but two days after the event, he tore ligaments in his ankle, and he missed the next three stops.

Bouncing back almost immediately in 2018, Ferreira had three event wins at Bells, Keramas, and Supertubos, jumping to No. 4 on the Jeep Leaderboard. The inner-fire runs deep with Ferreira, who grew up in a humble neighborhood where he borrowed boards from his cousins to get started. His progress was noticed and nurtured under the watchful eye of journeyman Jadson Andre and celebrated scout, Luiz “Pinga” Campos.

In 2019, Ferreira had an incredible back-end to the year finishing runner-up in France and taking out the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal heading into the Billabong Pipe Masters. At Pipe, Ferreira showed all his class and all his potential in winning both the Final and the World Title despite immense pressure from Gabriel Medina. Italo’s infectious personality and visible passion, not to mention his surf showmanship, made him one of the most popular World Champions in recent times.