Female surfer punched in the head at Bali beach: 'Actually terrifying'
Sara Taylor thought nothing of the near collision with a fellow surfer until his friend was sure to let his feelings be known.
A shocking video of a female surfer being punched in the head has sparked an internet wide search for the culprit, with the man now identified and paying for his actions.
On Thursday Sara Taylor was surfing at a beach on Bali's south coast and narrowly avoided a collision with fellow surfer Adriano Portela, who appeared to drop in on her wave. She managed to push him away and continue to ride the wave.
But when paddling back towards the surf break, another male surfer — believed to be a friend of Mr Portela — paddled up to her and punched her in the head while yelling abuse. She then confronted the same man on the beach who again started throwing punches at both Sara and her friend Charlie who was filming the ordeal. The entire dispute was caught on camera and uploaded to Instagram, where it quickly went viral.
"This is insane, does anyone know who they are?" Sara asked alongside the footage, who appears to not have sustained any injury from the attack.
Footage made a splash across social media
The video ripped through the internet, with high profile names from the surfing community condemning the man's actions. "This is so disgusting and actually terrifying," Australian professional surfer Felicity Palmateer wrote.
"Unbelievable… Hope you two are okay!" Olympic surfer Mahina Maeda said. Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater called on his friends in Bali to help find the offenders. Many people expressed the man's behaviour was not indicative of the surfing community's values and all attempts would be made to find the offender responsible.
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Adriano later posted an apology to his Instagram account, saying he had acted with "anger and disrespect" towards the female surfer, but confirmed he himself did not hit her.
"My behaviour was wrong and I should not have spoken to the girls the way I did, things got heated and I lost my temper," he wrote, before adding, "Nothing will excuse or make that type of behaviour right."
"I have reached out to the girls to apologise and try to make amends."
Male surfer dropped by sponsor: 'Behaviour is unacceptable'
Amid the internet frenzy, the male surfer who punched Sara was identified as Brazilian surfer João Paulo Azevedo, after one of his brand sponsors announced they would be cutting ties with him. In an Instagram post, clothing brand Quebra Onda referred to the "regrettable" video and said they took a zero tolerance approach to violence, which ultimately brought them to their decision.
"As this type of behaviour is unacceptable, we inform you that we have taken the immediate decision to end our partnership with the athlete JP Azevedo," they announced. In light of the incident, Mr Azevedo has reportedly deleted his social media accounts.
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