Today, eighteen-year-old Carissa Moore became the youngest ASP Women's World Surfing Champion at the Roxy Pro in Biarritz after making appearances in six consecutive finals. Photo: ASP/Bonnarme
Today, eighteen-year-old Carissa Moore became the youngest ASP Women’s World Champion at the Roxy Pro in Biarritz after making appearances in six consecutive finals. Her title is the first won by a Hawaiian woman since Margo Oberg’s in 1981.
The event not only put to bed a year-long rivalry between Carissa Moore and Sally Fitzgibbons (until 2012), it also marked the return of Steph Gilmore. Gilmore defeated Carissa Moore in the finals, winning her first event of 2011 – since she was attacked outside her apartment in December, which broke her wrist and shook her confidence.
“I was struggling to come to terms with not having that complete self-confidence,” she told ESPN. “It lingered for the first four events…And yeah, my injury will have a little more emotional scarring to get over, but sweet is never as sweet without some sour.”
“It feels good to beat her and she has definitely raised the bar for all the girls this year,” said Gilmore, who edged Moore 17.27 to 15.5 in the final. “She is definitely the strongest of everyone this whole year and she has been in every single final, and that is a new record. To beat the freshly crowned world champ is pretty cool.”
“It’s been a fantastic year, I’ve enjoyed the highs and lows, but it’s a bit devastating to lose the world title,” Fitzgibbons said.
“It feels amazing to make all these finals and win the title,” Moore said. “I have been thinking about this for a long time since I was a little girl. Just to be here right now and being world champ is pretty crazy, and Roxy put-up a great event. I dreamed of surfing at this level my whole life since I was a little kid and I don’t think you can ever expect or anticipate the feeling.”
Carissa Moore and her dad Chris Moore: mission accomplished. Photo: ASP/Bonnarme
The ASP Women’s World Tour heads to Huntington Beach on August 1, 2011 for the final event of the year.
ROXY PRO FINAL
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 17.27
2 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.50
ROXY PRO SEMIFINALS
SF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.27 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 9.67
SF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.30 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
