World champion Gilmore brought down to earth in opening ‘shocker’
STEPHANIE Gilmore’s World Surf League season is on thin ice after just the first event of the year after she crashed out of the Billabong Pro at Pipeline.
Gilmore was pitched into an elimination round after losing her opening heat and was knocked out in a shock result after failing to better the scores of teens Caitlin Simmers and Alyssa Spencer – trying to get busy but failing to ensure she was on highscoring quality waves.
It’s a massive blow to the veteran, who will now have to lift her game in the next four events just to avoid the mid-season cut.
“I feel like I’ve gone from hero to zero but surfing has a great way of keeping you humble for sure.,” Gilmore said.
“It’s a bummer way to start the year but that’s sport, that’s the way it is and there’s really no better motivation than to have a shocker and want to come back better.”
Gilmore, who turned 35 earlier this week, won a record eighth world title last season despite missing Pipeline after being forced into quarantine due to Covid.
She was in danger of missing the cut before a semi-final finish in Portugal and a pair of quarter-final results in Australia helped her claw across the line.
She eventually finished the season in fifth place overall and won a mammoth five heats in a row at the WSL finals to secure her eighth title.
But she knows with the talent on tour this year she can’t afford any more lapses.
“I’m already two heats better than what I started last year, so it’s not too bad,” Gilmore said.
“But we have a group of young girls on tour this year and some of the rookies who were on tour last year that didn’t make the cut but they’re back with a vengeance and have got a lot more experience. So I think this year will be different.
“I’m not going to be able to scrape by like I did. I’m really going to have to knuckle down at Sunset and then go to Portugal – which is always a wildcard for me.
“Then I feel really comfortable at Bells and Margaret River but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”