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Last week, Kelly Slater pulled out of the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, citing ongoing hip issues. Since then, the 11-time champion has been spotted surfing Australia’s Gold Coast, and he looks pretty good out there.
“Still dealing with hip recovery and still in pain with basic mobility,” Slater wrote in a now-expired Instagram story, explaining his reasoning behind the withdrawal. “Thanks for the messages from the Portuguese fans and apologies I won’t be seeing you at Supertubos. Hoping to feel better for Bells (the first event I surfed as a full-time tour surfer in 1992). Fingers crossed @wsl scores some good waves in Portugal and good luck to everyone.”
The issue stems from way back in 2022, when he injured his hip surfing Bells Beach. As a result, Slater underwent an extensive surgery to repair the joint. He explained that doctors“[Did] a labrum reconstruction, removed scar tissue and bone spurs on femoral head, shaved the socket joint, and removed bone pieces and foreign objects floating in the joint.”
The significant surgery kept Kelly land-bound for three months afterwards, while he did is best to recover. By the time winter rolled around, he appeared to be back in action, having been spotted putting his hip through its paces at Pipeline.
However, the ghost of injuries past apparently reappeared just before the CT event at Supertubos, leading to the aforementioned withdrawal. Rather than competing, Slater was relegated to undergoing a series of medical tests. Meanwhile, Peniche’s Matias Canhoto took his place as a local wildcard.
Just six days later, though, he’s been spotted whipping turns on the Gold Coast. Australian drone operator Skymonkey5 caught the action, in which the Floridian hall of famer was looking pretty spry for someone who was struggling with basic mobility. Of course, there are many possible explanations for the apparent rebound, but that didn’t stop speculation from internet commenters that he simply used the old injury to skip out on Supertubos’ decidedly lackluster conditions this week.
Honestly, if true, who could blame him?
