Miguel Pupo was in a pickle today when he stopped by our office. He had a problem that most of us wish we had. Thanks to a first place finish at the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro, Miguel had a solid gold railroad spike worth $30,000 in his pocket, and needed to find a safe place to stash it before he could go to Disneyland. Who says that the life of a professional surfer is easy? But in all seriousness, Pupo did put on a golden performance at Lower Trestles against one of the most stacked fields of competitors to ever enter a Prime event. At 19 years old, the prodigal Brazilian has a bright future in surfing, and his lethal frontside attack in the Lowers lefts certainly earned him some recognition, or at least a good seat on the Indiana Jones ride.
What was it like being the underdog in the final against Tanner Gudauskas in front of his home crowd?
I think after my heat against Jadson in the Quarters I started to think that maybe I could win it. I was just thinking about the points, and trying to make as many heats as I could. After my heat with Jadson, I was like, “Yeah, that’s 4,000 points!” And it went up with each heat, so I was just trying my best to get the points, but then when I got closer to the Final I started to think about the gold and the money. But I really didn’t realize that was going to happen.
So where are you keeping that gold spike?
It’s in my pocket right now. There’s no place to leave this thing! It’s the sickest trophy ever, but it’s also the scariest thing ever because you don’t know where to put it. I’ve just been carrying it around it my pocket because I can feel it. It’s so heavy! I’m going to go leave it at the bank today before I go back to Brazil. Before my dad left he was keeping it in his pocket.
Do you think that the new generation of Brazilians is going to make a mark on the global contest scene in the next few years?
I think that this generation is healthier and more focused. We’ve all known each other since we were like 12-years-old, and we’ve been traveling together. Me, Alejo, Jadson, and Gabriel are always fighting for first place. So we just push each other, and other guys are getting really excited also, like Thiago and Jesse [Mendes]. Jesse started doing really well. I don’t know, it’s just kind of different. We see each other do well and we don’t really get jealous, we just get really excited and want to do exactly the same thing. I think that’s why the level of surfing is just going up in Brazil.
