Born in São Sebastião, on the north coast of São Paulo. When the boy was 8 years old, his parents separated. After the divorce, his mother began a relationship with Charles Rodrigues.
The future stepfather of Medina was a triathlete and amateur surfer and soon introduced Gabriel to the sport. He was the boy’s first coach at Maresias beach.
Gabriel’s younger half-sister, Sophia, is also already competing in national and international competitions.
At 11 years old, Medina won his first national championship in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro (the Rip Curl Grom Search, Sub-12 category).
In 2009, he signed a contract with the Australian company Rip Curl and turned professional. At 19, in 2013, he won the World Junior Tour.
The following year, in Hawaii, he became the first Brazilian to achieve the title of world surfing champion at Pipeline.
In 2018, he won the world surfing circuit again at Pipeline, Hawaii, thus becoming a two-time world champion in the sport.
Very discreet, little is known about Gabriel Medina’s personal life.
However, the athlete is often seen in the company of famous friends like Neymar and Anitta.
The little that is known about the surfer’s day-to-day life is published on his official Instagram: @gabrielmedina
The story of the precocious athlete Gabriel Medina was written by journalist Tulio 
Brandão and published in 2015 under the title Gabriel Medina: The Journey of Brazil’s First World Surfing Champion.
The preface of the work was written by Kelly Slater, another great surfer.
The institute that bears the athlete’s name was created by the surfer with his own funds on February 1, 2017, at Maresias beach, where Gabriel took his first steps in his career.
The idea of the training center is to train young high-performance athletes aged 10 to 17 for surfing.
The boys are selected in the Medina Surf Circuit and, when they join the Institute, they receive training materials, food, and travel assistance at no cost. They are also guaranteed technical, physical, psychological, and medical assistance, and attend English and computer classes.
Source: www.ebiografia.com, by Rebeca Fuks