Carissa Moore made her pregnancy announcement via an edit posted to Instagram. Photo: Carissa Moore // Instagram
Carissa Moore owns an Olympic Gold medal, multiple World Titles, and has a spot reserved on surfing’s Mount Rushmore. And now she can add “mom” to her resumé after welcoming a newborn girl along with her husband Luke Untermann. Olena Lililehua Untermann was born on Monday morning, February 24 at 3:39 a.m., Moore announced on social media Tuesday.
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The five-time world champion announced back in January 2024 that she’d be taking time away from the world tour, telling the New York Times it was time to explore life outside of competitive surfing and acknowledging that starting a family was part of that possibility. An appearance in the Paris Olympics was a planned exemption from that break, which was later followed by an announcement that her and Untermann’s first child was on the way.
“When I made the announcement and decision earlier this year, I was invested in wanting to do well in the Olympics and taking the time away from competing full-time to spend time in Tahiti and put all my effort into training at Teahupo’o. That was where my head was at. But we knew at some point this year we also wanted to start trying for a family,” she told The Inertia in November.
The surf world has, of course, wondered if Moore will come back to the world tour. She’s acknowledged a desire to come back but shared no specific plans or timeline for doing so. She won’t be out of the spotlight no matter what, though. In January, Moore’s agent confirmed her sponsorship deals with Hurley and Red Bull had been renewed.
“It always seemed that once surfers became mothers that was the end of their professional career and that really freaked me out. I felt like you had to choose one or the other. But it’s been cool to see more and more women in sports changing that narrative. I know my priorates are going to change, but I still have a deep love for surfing and performing at a high level. I don’t know if I could balance and do it all, but I’d like to try.
