Every year the coast of the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, turns into a surfing paradise, greeting the roster of skills from amateur to pros disposing of anyone with its heavy waves occasionally. The beaches like the Jaws aka Peʻahi have recorded the biggest monstrous wave of over 70 feet—not for the faint of heart.

Then there’s the evergreen surfer Kelly Slater, aged 52, boasting sporting longevity with over 30 years of professional experience and still ready to ride a wave, 11 world championship titles later. Despite having committed half of his life to challenge himself on WSL’s favorite locations, looks like a monstrous wave got the better of him this time.

Kelly Slater loses another home game

Kelly Slater has often spoken about his experiences of near-death surfing incidents the most recalled one being his knockout in France. However, if you follow his stints, nothing compares to the almost perfect wave, breaking his board with a pin-drop wipeout at Cloud Break, Fiji.

One similar tide wipeout moment was posted by Slater on his Instagram story courtesy of his friend which he captioned, “When your friend send you good clips @jackjohnson.” When talking about his France incident once on Graham Bensinger’s YouTube video interview titled, ‘Kelly Slater on the wipeout that nearly killed him,’ Slater wrote, “I got knocked out I laugh about it now but I had to use all my brain power to not get um post-traumatic stress disorder afterwards cuz it was kind of scary.”

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According to Slater, two of the most dangerous surf locations for him have been the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii and Mavericks at Half Moon Bay in Northern California. Though he announced his retirement after this Summer Olympics, an early disqualification marked the end of an era last year.

Unexpected exit of the surf legend

2024 Paris Olympics hopeful Kelly Slater suffered injuries from major qualifying events keeping him from the Paris stint. This was his first WSL Tour knockout since 1990, the year he turned pro. While his injuries did account for his title loss, Slater matched O’Brien’s top score of 7.83 before winding down his scores in the final ride.

With 56 major wins in his portfolio, Kelly Slater’s exit wiped off any chances of Florida having any elite men’s championship surfing circuit surfer for the first time since 1983. After he exited the WSL Tour, the individual quota hope for the 2024 Paris Olympics also saw no optimism given his injuries.