Kelly Slater will compete in world surfing elite events in Tahiti and Fiji

“Slater is the most successful surfer of all time and has 56 victories in world tour events, five of which were at Teahupo’o, Tahiti (2000, 2003, 2005, 2011 and 2016), and four at Cloudbreak, Fiji (2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012)”, the WSL highlighted in a statement.

At 52 years old, Kelly Slater was ranked 32nd in the world and was the victim of the WSL mid-season cut (like the Portuguese Frederico Morais, in 29th), being demoted to the secondary circuit for the second year in a row. .

However, the ‘king of surfing’ received an invitation from the WSL to race 100% on the 2024 world circuit, something that kept him competing among the elite, but which will no longer happen in 2025, as the WSL revealed today that one of the ‘wildcards’ for next season goes to Brazilian João Chianca, who missed this season due to injury, and the other to two-time world champion Filipe Toledo (Brazil), who is the title holder, but chose to take a break from career this year.

On the women’s side, Australian Stephanie Gilmore, eight times world champion, who also interrupted her professional career in 2024, and North American Lakey Peterson, who was below the ‘cut’, were invited to return to compete on the circuit. elite in 2025.

As for Kelly Slater, after once again falling below the WSL cut and also failing to achieve his stated goal of competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as had happened with Tokyo 2020, in the sport’s debut, the greatest surfer of all time took over. about a week ago, when he was eliminated from the stage in Margaret River, Australia, which meant he was no longer competing full-time.

But he immediately left open the possibility of participating in some events as a guest, even saying that he would like to compete in the events in Tahiti, Fiji and Hawaii (Pipeline). The first two wishes will be fulfilled in May (Teahupo’o) and August (Cloudbreak).

Who will also compete in Tahiti – where the Paris2024 surfing competition will take place – is Hawaiian Carissa Moore, five-time world champion who decided to take a sabbatical in 2024 but accepted the invitations for the first stage of the year, in Pipeline, and now for Teahupo’o, in excellent training for the Games in which he will participate for the United States.

The WSL also announced that Kelly Slater will also participate in the first round of the Challenger Series (secondary circuit), in Gold Coast, Australia, which starts on April 27th and will also be attended by the Portuguese Frederico Morais.

The Challenger Series provide access to the WSL main circuit, with six stages planned, one of them, the fifth and penultimate, at Praia de Ribeira D’Ilhas, in Ericeira, between September 29th and October 6th.