Carissa Moore, a surfing luminary, prides a track record that is every professional surfer’s ultimate dream! 11 NSSA amateur titles, 5 world records, and the first women’s Olympic gold medal in surfing are among the many precious laurels that bejewel her crown. Moreover, the 2024 roster is going to be further eventful for the doyenne of pulsating waves, as she will be guarding up to defend her historic title in Paris. But, the little preview two months before her mega international fixture doesn’t look all that good, as Moore has just had a disappointing exit from the Tahiti Pro 2024 event, won by the French wildcard – Vahine Fierro.

Carissa Moore has been springing news upon her fans right from the start of the year. First, she sent waves of perplex throughout the surfing community, only to soon give a new lease of life to her fans.

2024 – the year of hitting headlines for Carissa Moore

It started in January 2024, when she publicized her undue retirement from surfing. Not an end, but Moore called it, “an evolution, the start of the next chapter, a new beginning.” While people naturally speculated her retiring at the crescendo of her career, she justified it in her announcing note that “the external expectation is to keep going but my heart is telling me it’s time to pivot.”

Irrespective, she sounded resolute in her stance as she affirmed, “I know who I am, what I want and what is meaningful to me.” She even pledged that departing from the tour has definitely been one of the most trying decisions she has ever had to make “but it also feels completely right.”

While this declaration of hers that the Pipe Pro would be her last Championship event was heart-shattering, it felt right for her and thus the favorite’s fans swallowed it like a bitter pill. However, nearly four months later, she pleasantly surprised many by announcing that she had accepted her wildcard entry to the Tahiti Pro 2024 event. And the same Tahiti waters that she once said involved “a lot of risk,” thereby became the surfer’s returning ground.

Presumably, this could be the aftermath of her perceiving the colossal importance of getting accustomed to Teahupo’o, as it is the venue for both the Tahiti Pro 2024 event and the Olympics. One of her statements at the ISA World Surfing Games resonates with this idea, wherein she states, “My goal is to try to spend more time being uncomfortable at that wave and surfing all types of conditions.”

However, the results of the Tahiti Pro 2024 haven’t gone in Moore’s favor and are far from an electrifying comeback.

Moore’s miss, Vahine Fierro’s hit!

Carissa Moore, a record favorite, missed the winning podium at the Tahiti Pro 2024 event by a fairly high margin. After her 10.93 total in the opening round against Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Johanne Defay, Moore got knocked out of the quarterfinals against Brisa Hennessy. The Hawaiian’s 9.44 wasn’t enough to beat Brisa’s 12.66, which resulted in her upsetting elimination.

However, inching closer to the Olympic podium, Vahine Fierro rose to the occasion at the Tahiti Pro 2024 with a victory that put all her contemporaries in shade. An ecstatic Vahine spoke to the WSL after her win, calling it ‘the best day of her life.’ She thanked Teahupo’o for the ‘best waves’ of her life and the others for believing in her.

Visibly, Vahine was euphoric and was smiling from ear to ear. It was as though everything worked in the surfer’s favor, as she described, “Today was the perfect amount of energy, like not too big but enough to push us.” Besides, exemplifying the adage, “try, try, till you succeed,” she elaborated on how all of them tried, had big wipeouts, went in the lagoon, but came back and tried again, eventually experiencing the best of their lives. And thus, she now feels that ‘Teahupo’o is for the girls as well!’

Therefore, with such fierce competitors lined up to grace this venue for the Olympics, it will not be a plain sailing ride to victory for Carissa. However, she is one of the best contenders to pull this off with all that experience backing her. But only time will tell if she lives up to her legacy.