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“Best Surfer on the Planet”: 5X Surfing World Champion Overcomes Broken Surfboard, Dazzles Fans With Epic Performance

Published 07/18/2023, 11:36 AM EDT

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The surfing elite looks forward to donning the season’s yellow jersey every time it comes around. Only one surfer may wear the jersey at a time, and right now that surfer is Carissa Moore, a five-time WSL world champion. The name of the Hawaiian surfer who won her first championship in 2011 with surfing superstar Kelly Slater will forever be etched in surfing lore. Moore’s first heat at the Corona Open J-Bay was a nightmare, but she proved she was not the type to give up after a bad start by advancing to the elimination rounds on a damaged surfboard.

Video of Carissa Moore’s 8.50 in the fourth wave of the elimination round, provided by WSL, quickly went viral on the internet. As the surfing community flocked to the post’s comments section, the video quickly amassed over 400k views and 20k likes.

Domination over the South African surfing waves

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After her first-round defeat against South African surfer Sarah Baum, Carissa Moore was under a lot of pressure. As someone who wouldn’t want to risk losing her yellow jersey, the Hawaiian surfer knew that the elimination round meant all or nothing. She competed against Johanne Defay, a surfer from France, in Heat 1 of the elimination round. As shown in the now-viral Instagram video, Moore struggled with the first three waves due to a damaged surfboard, which led her to switch surfboards before the fourth.

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While Johanne Defay’s path to the quarterfinals was unobstructed, Moore was not going to roll over for anybody. She bought a new surfboard and went back out to the waves. Moore performed many drifts before finally entering a barrel, which she executed flawlessly. The Hawaiian surfer kept going, impressing the judges and the audience with a series of impressive tricks on the waves at Supertubes.

via Imago

Defay came in second behind Carissa Moore, who had a total of 16.27 (8.50 + 7.77) to Defay’s 13.63 (6.83 + 6.80). As she advances to the semifinals of the Corona Open J-Bay, the Hawaiian once again proves she has what it takes to become a multi-time world champion.

The sports world united in the praise of the surfer

Carissa Moore has consistently shocked the surfing community with her extraordinary abilities. The surfing community came together to applaud the surfer in the post’s comments once more.

As this could have been more up in the points, this comment read, “Jesus, give her the ten!!!” Apart from the performance, one comment admired another ability of the surfer, as it read, “Gnarly Fitness .. kudos to the support crew.”

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A post shared by World Surf League (@wsl)

A wholesome comment read, “Just about the best surfer on the planet to watch go Riss.” Another similar comment read, “Poetry in motion.”

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With the waves of the Corona Open J-Bay on fire, the Hawaiian surfer will now meet the South African surfer Sarah Baum in a rematch that fans cannot wait to watch.

WATCH THIS STORY – “I’d like to see the books”: Surfing Hall-of-famer questions WSL on choice of major sponsorships

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Written by:

Rahul Goutam Hoom

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Rahul Hoom is a seasoned sportswriter with a diverse range of interests at EssentiallySports. He takes pride in his multidimensional personality that encompasses gaming, photography, and writing. While he cannot resist the urge to cover the latest exploits of Connor McDavid, Rahul's writing prowess extends beyond the NHL.
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Edited by:

Purva Jain