Stephanie Gilmore has won her sixth world surfing title, leaving her only one world win away from matching Australian legend Layne Beachley.
Gilmore won the world title in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and now adds 2014 to the list, making her one of our country’s most successful female surfers. In 2010, Gilmore also became surfing’s highest-earning woman.
If Gilmore wins the championship again next year, she and Beachley will share the title of the most successful female surfers in the history of the sport.
Gilmore entered her first World Series Championship in 2007, and became the first surfer in history to win a world title in her first year in the competition.
She feels that every time she wins a trophy, she shows that thing are changing for female surfers.
“Things have really changed in the last 15 years, and rapidly in the last five,” she told Marie Claire. “There are so many girls now. At first, I don’t think the guys liked it, and women felt they had to compete against the guys to gain respect. Now, the guys and girls learn from each other. We’re blossoming into our own. We love to be powerful and beautiful and strong,” she told Marie Claire.
Gilmore was almost thrown off her winning streak in 2010 when she was attacked walking home in Coolangatta. Her assailant broke her hand and wrist, and she had to take a long break of surfing competitively. She couldn’t win the title in 2011 – placing fifth – and decided to take time out of competition to remind herself why she loves the sport so much. When she came back, refreshed, she trained harder than ever and considers her world title win the following year her best yet.
“The other titles came naturally. With this one, I turned from a surfer into an athlete. To overcome something and figure out a way to train harder, surf better, and make it work. I treasure this one most of all,” she said.
This year, though, manages to top her 2012 win. The 2014 world championship competition was very tough, and Gilmore wasn’t sure she would win. The overall winner was determined by the result of a final between Carissa Moore and Tyler Wright, so she was waiting on the beach – not surfing – when she won.
“Winning in 2012 was special overcoming quite a bit to get there, but this year was the hardest competition I’ve experienced in my career. To not only have myself, but three girls in the running until the last event was insane. It didn’t matter what round or heat you were in, you had a tough challenge. That is what makes this world title mean a lot; it’s really special,” she told Fairfax Media.
Gilmore said she admires Beachley and everything she achieved for women in sport, but said that even with six titles under her belt, Beachley’s record still seems far off. Nonetheless, she said she would keep trying until she’d won her seventh title and officially caught up to Beachley as the world’s best female surfer.