In our Talent Profiles series, we shine a light on some of the biggest names that MN2S has worked with. This week, we focus on the talents of four gifted athletes in the world of extreme sports.
Carissa Moore
Honolulu, Hawaii native and five-time World Champion Carissa Moore. Moore won her fifth World Championship in the first WSL Finals in 2021 thanks to her complete dedication to the game and never-ending optimism. That victory came shortly after she won the first-ever surfing gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, an accolade befitting of one of the sport’s all-time greats. During her successful amateur career, Moore won eleven national championships. When she joined the Championship Tour in 2010, Moore immediately threatened Stephanie Gilmore’s dominance. With two victories in her first season, she unleashed a paradigm-shifting supply of power surfing on the women’s competition.
Although she placed third in the world that year, she came back stronger in 2011 and won three competitions to win her first world title and end Gilmore’s incredible run of four straight victories. As they competed for world titles and the hearts and minds of fans from 2010 to 2015, Steph and Carissa exchanged the trophy three times. On the women’s side, it is by far the best competition ever, but there has never even been a hint of hostility between the two; only kind regard. Over the years, Carissa has used her notoriety for a number of worthwhile causes. After taking first place in her first CT competition in New Zealand in 2010, she gave the entire winnings to the neighbourhood boardriders club as a token of gratitude for their hospitality.
Her 2015 global championship was followed by a (relative) career decline, and in 2017 she won just one tournament before finishing the year at No. 5 in the world. But in 2018, Moore came back even more determined and climbed back up to No. 3 on the rankings after taking first place in both the inaugural Surf Ranch Pro and the Maui Pro. That served as the launch pad for her unprecedented fourth World Title in 2019, demonstrating the Hawaiian was far from done with the sport. It was merely a lead-up to her career’s peak year in 2021. After being sidelined for a year due to the pandemic, she dominated, qualifying for the Semifinals or higher in every event she surfed until winning the World Title.
Lizzie Armanto
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Armanto, an American-Finnish skateboarder born on January 26th, 1993, first became interested in the sport when she was 14 years old and accompanied her younger brother to a skate park. While he chipped his tooth and turned away from the ramps, she couldn’t stop. Since that fortunate day, Armanto has reached incredible heights and verts to establish herself as a pioneer in women’s skateboarding. When the skateboarding celebrity became the first woman to successfully complete Tony Hawk’s 360 loop in 2018, she was bound to gain international fame.
The Santa Monica native began competing in 2010 after turning professional while still in college. Armanto has earned more than 30 skateboarding honours throughout her career, including three straight years at the top of the overall World Cup ranking (points race) (2010-2012). When the skater won gold in her X Games debut in Barcelona in 2013, she revealed her full ability. The contest is recognised as the most prestigious activity at the skate park. Since then, she has added a bronze medal (2019) and two silver medals from the X-Games.
Italo Ferreria
Italo Ferreira, a surfer who lives in Rio Grande do Norte on Brazil’s northeastern coast, was born in 1994 and grew up in the small town of Baa Formosa. When he was just 12 years old, he started surfing using boards that he had borrowed from his cousins. This may have been the turning point in his young life. Italo was found by renowned Brazilian surf instructor Luiz ‘Pinga’ Campos, who was at the time the marketing director of one of the top surf companies in the world. After winning the Brazilian Championship and two rounds of the Junior World Championship in 2011, Italo eventually earned a spot on the World Championship Tour, the top level of international surfing.
Italo began the year in 2019 by taking first place at the Australian Gold Coast’s opening tour stop. Later, he also triumphed in the first Red Bull Airborne competition. A victory in Peniche (Portugal), a final in Jeffreys Bay (South Africa), and Hossegor would round off his stellar campaign (France). The illustrious Pipe Masters, the year’s penultimate competition, saw Italo square off against his fellow countryman Gabriel Medina for the title. Italo eventually emerged victorious in this battle of giants as the world champion. As surfing made its Olympic debut, Italo then succeeded on the largest sporting stage of them all by earning gold in Toko.
Ester Ledecka
In addition to being a fantastic Alpine Ski Champion, Ester Ledecka is a world-class snowboarder. Czech ski queen Ledecka has dominated the slopes in two separate sports, leaving her competitors in the dust. Ledecka received the recognition she deserved after winning the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Ledecka has superior control over her skis and board because she is quick and precise. Ledecka was destined to be a champion; she put on her first pair of skis at the age of two and had her feet firmly planted on a snowboard by the time she was five. Ledecka is at the top of her game as a result of pursuing both specialties, and is currently one of the sport’s most exhilarating high-adrenaline athletes.