(Reuters) – Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore surfed her way through the field to claim a record-breaking eighth world title, overcoming American five-times world champion Carissa Moore in the final in Southern California on Thursday.
The stylish Gilmore, who honed her surfing on the pointbreaks of Australia’s Gold Coast, made the most of the deteriorating conditions at the venue of Lower Trestles, Southern California’s premier cobblestone pointbreak.
Gilmore, 34, had to battle through a series of head-to-head matches for a chance at the best-of-three title decider, overcoming Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica, Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb and France’s Johanne Defay.
“I don’t have much left to be honest,” an emotional Gilmore said. “I visualised it so much, I was like ‘Let’s do this, I have a chance'”.
Moore, the top seed after the 10-stop world tour, progressed directly to the final but the 2021 world champion and surfing’s first Olympic gold medallist struggled to find the waves to unleash her powerful turns.
The win confirmed Gilmore as the most successful women’s professional surfer ever, breaking her tie with countrywoman Layne Beachley who won seven world titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney, editing by Ed Osmond)
