📍Baía Formosa, RN, Brazil
1994 – 2012“Italo Ferreira was born in May 1994 in Baía Formosa, a small fishing village on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, in north-eastern Brazil, with a crescent bay, sand dunes and a point break. His family was poor. His father, Luiz, was a fisherman who sold his catch to restaurants and villages around the area, carrying the fish in a polystyrene cooler, and his mother was a teacher. Italo did not have a surfboard, so at about eight he grabbed the foam lid of his father's fish cooler, about three feet long, and taught himself to surf on it in the waves of Baía Formosa. He was so determined that his family found him a second-hand board, and he won his first contest soon after. His father worked even harder to sell more fish, and his mother walked to school so she could sell her bus tickets to pay for his travel to contests, while Italo went door to door asking neighbours to help. At about twelve, the local professional surfer Jadson André and the coach Luiz Pinga Campos saw his talent and began to guide him. He joined the world tour in 2015 and was named rookie of the year, famous for his explosive aerials and joyful energy. In 2019 he won the world title at Pipeline, and in 2021 he won the first ever Olympic gold medal in surfing, in Japan, after snapping his board in his first wave. Baía Formosa celebrated through the night, and he has given back to the village, supporting young surfers where he learned on a cooler lid.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today