Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

An Olympic champion surfer has told how he injured his arm fleeing a monkey that was trying to bite him.

Italo Ferreira, 28, had been competing at the World Surf League in Indonesia when he decided to check out the local wildlife.

But as he got too close to a family of monkeys, one of them turned on him chasing the Olympic gold medal winner through a forest.

Brazilian national Ferreira was so panicked he fell and cut his arm on the ground.

In a video of the jungle encounter, he shows the monkey coming for him and then footage of the paving as he tries to outrun his attacker.

In a video recorded after the bizarre chase, he explained: “Brother, nearly. And I fell while being chased.”

Ferreira is currently competing in the G-Land stage of the tournament until 6th June.

Ferreira, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, is currently fifth in the WSL ranking after the last stage in Australia at the beginning of May.

The league is currently topped by Ferreira’s compatriot Filipe Toledo with American surfer John John Florence in second place.