<p>Brazil's Italo Ferreira claimed Olympic surfing's first-ever gold medal on Tuesday, as American Carissa Moore won the women's event.</p>.<p>Ferreira, who learned to surf standing on the foam box his father sold fish from, snapped his board on the first wave of his final against Japan's Kanoa Igarashi.</p>.<p>He had to wait in the sea as a team official brought him a replacement, but he shook off the early setback to score 15.14 to Igarashi's 6.60.</p>.<p>"I think it's one of the best days of my life, for sure," said Ferreira, the 2019 world champion.</p>.<p>"For me that was a long day, and it was a dream come true. In the last couple of months I have been training a lot, just to live in this moment."</p>.<p>"I just want to say thank you God for the opportunity to be here and do what I love," he added.</p>.<p>Igarashi had shocked tournament favourite Gabriel Medina in the semi-finals, landing a stunning aerial move late in the contest to beat the Brazilian world number one.</p>.<p>And the Japanese rider's luck looked to be in when Ferreira snapped his board on the very first wave.</p>.<p>But the Brazilian promptly took control of the contest with an imperious performance, before being carried back up the beach on his team-mates' shoulders.</p>.<p>"I was super-confident, and when I broke the board I was like 'Let's go to the beach and get another one and try again', and that's what I did," said Ferreira.</p>.<p>Australia's Owen Wright beat Medina to claim the bronze.</p>.<p>In the women's final, American world number one Moore beat unheralded South African Bianca Buitendag.</p>.<p>Japan's Amuro Tsuzuki beat Caroline Marks of the US in the bronze-medal match.</p>.<p>The medal events -- originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday -- were moved forward to Tuesday to take advantage of favourable wave conditions.</p>
<p>Brazil's Italo Ferreira claimed Olympic surfing's first-ever gold medal on Tuesday, as American Carissa Moore won the women's event.</p>.<p>Ferreira, who learned to surf standing on the foam box his father sold fish from, snapped his board on the first wave of his final against Japan's Kanoa Igarashi.</p>.<p>He had to wait in the sea as a team official brought him a replacement, but he shook off the early setback to score 15.14 to Igarashi's 6.60.</p>.<p>"I think it's one of the best days of my life, for sure," said Ferreira, the 2019 world champion.</p>.<p>"For me that was a long day, and it was a dream come true. In the last couple of months I have been training a lot, just to live in this moment."</p>.<p>"I just want to say thank you God for the opportunity to be here and do what I love," he added.</p>.<p>Igarashi had shocked tournament favourite Gabriel Medina in the semi-finals, landing a stunning aerial move late in the contest to beat the Brazilian world number one.</p>.<p>And the Japanese rider's luck looked to be in when Ferreira snapped his board on the very first wave.</p>.<p>But the Brazilian promptly took control of the contest with an imperious performance, before being carried back up the beach on his team-mates' shoulders.</p>.<p>"I was super-confident, and when I broke the board I was like 'Let's go to the beach and get another one and try again', and that's what I did," said Ferreira.</p>.<p>Australia's Owen Wright beat Medina to claim the bronze.</p>.<p>In the women's final, American world number one Moore beat unheralded South African Bianca Buitendag.</p>.<p>Japan's Amuro Tsuzuki beat Caroline Marks of the US in the bronze-medal match.</p>.<p>The medal events -- originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday -- were moved forward to Tuesday to take advantage of favourable wave conditions.</p>
