Slater’s bid for Olympic place gathers pace
Champion surfer Kelly Slater’s bid for an Olympic crown is gathering pace as the 11-time world champion seeks to add a gold medal to his burgeoning trophy cabinet.
Competing in Manly at the Sydney Surf Pro this week, Slater said representing his country would be ‘‘something pretty special’’ and an ideal way to close out his career.
The 47-year-old icon has dabbled with retirement numerous times including last year when he announced 2019 would be his last season.
But the lure of being crowned the inaugural Olympic champion appears too strong to resist.
The Manly event is part of the World Surf League qualifying series, providing lower-ranked surfers the chance to gain points and improve their ranking.
While it might seem unusual for a surfer of Slater’s standing to compete in a qualifier series, his participation is strategic.
As the sport makes its Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2020, each nation is allowed just two male and two female surfers, meaning Slater needs ranking points to overtake his countrymen.
After injury wrecked his 2018 campaign, Slater slumped to 30th in the global rankings. He is the seventh-ranked American men’s surfer, highlighting the importance of a strong showing in Sydney.
Slater comfortably won his first heat, as hundreds of onlookers packed Manly Beach to glimpse the greatest surfer of all time.
As he faces an uphill battle to qualify for Tokyo, Slater even joked he had been searching his family history to find another country to represent.
‘‘I was wondering if I could surf for Syria or Ireland or something,’’ he said.
Slater said he had been approached to help coach the US Olympic surfing team – but only if he didn’t qualify to compete himself.
‘‘It seems even if I’m not on the team, I could be involved in some way . . . we’ll see how that goes.’’
Despite his age Slater said he was not just sticking around to make up the numbers. Asked if he was a chance to nab a 12th title, he was bullish.
‘‘You tell me. I think I am,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t think I’m the favourite, but I think if the odds were good you’d be crazy not to at least put 10 bucks on it, you know?’’