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Owen Wright to retire from professional surfing
Owen Wright will retire from professional surfing after the upcoming events at Bells Beach. (All photos: Joli Photos ) |
SYDNEY, March 22 - Surfer Owen Wright, who fought his way back from a traumatic brain injury to win an Olympic bronze medal for Australia, announced his retirement from professional competition on Wednesday, saying he no longer wanted to risk his health.
"Over the years I've had a number of head injuries and concussions and it's got to the point where I need to prioritise my long term health," Wright said on social media.
"I'm going to retire from the highest level of competition, and basically from taking heavy water risks."
Wright was in contention for a world title in 2015 but was injured in a wipeout during a warm-up surf at Hawaii's notorious Pipeline, forcing him out of the event and out of the water for almost a year.
In an incredible turnaround, Wright won his comeback professional event on Australia's Gold Coast in 2017, one of four world championship titles for the tall and powerful goofy-footer.
Wright excelled in the world's most powerful and dangerous waves, scoring two perfect 20/20 heat totals in one event in giant tubes at Fiji's Cloudbreak in 2015 and winning another championship tour event at Tahiti's Teahupo'o in 2019.
While still struggling with his brain injury, Wright crowned his comeback with a bronze at surfing's Olympic debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, but was knocked off the elite championship tour in 2022.
"The next chapter for me, I will still be surfing, I will still be surfing a lot...I just don't have to take the risks I used to," the 33-year-old said, adding he hoped to bring awareness to head injuries in sport.
Wright, whose sister Tyler is a twice world women's surf champion, will sign off from pro competition as a wildcard in next month's Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia.
Fierce Desire - Somewhere on the East Coast
KELLY SLATER ‘NO CHANCE’ OF COMING TO AUSTRALIA
Kelly Slater could be the next big name in sports to be refused the right to compete in Australia, with the federal health minister saying that the 11-time champion would not be allowed into the country if he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Slater, who has not publicly disclosed his COVID-19 vaccination status, has aired some controversial views on COVID-19 vaccines, including an Instagram comment in October that claimed he knew “more about being healthy than 99 percent of doctors.”
The US tour veteran, who has no medical qualifications, has previously said that he is not anti-vaccine, but opposed to making vaccination mandatory.
Slater has also been critical of the visa process that ended with the deportation of tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The best surfers in the world are scheduled to arrive in Australia for back-to-back World Surf League events at Victoria’s Bells Beach and Western Australia’s Margaret River in March and April.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear with the Novak Djokovic case of no vax, no play,” Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt told Australian broadcaster Channel 9. “It’s a pretty simple message, doesn’t matter what sport, we’re even-handed. I hope he [Slater] gets vaccinated and I hope he competes.”
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said that he hoped there would be no repeat of the saga that overshadowed the buildup to the Australian Open and left Djokovic unable to defend his title at Melbourne Park.
“It’s important there is clarity from the commonwealth government about who gets in and who doesn’t,” Andrews said yesterday. “That is a good thing. Least you don’t have a soap opera drama that wastes everybody’s time.”
The Australian Federal Court yesterday dismissed Djokovic’s challenge to his visa cancelation, saying that Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke, who revoked it, reasonably believed the tennis star might be a risk to the community.
Great white shark chases surfers in Australia
What has stayed with me most is the energy and presence it had. Absolutely magnificent creature showing us who’s really boss. Very grateful that we all made it out and of course now I’ve got a good story to tell 😂 The footage doesn’t represent the shark well but you can see that even once we were up the rocks it was coming for us!"
SURFING (RAW) AT KIRRA AND SNAPPER ROCKS - Sunday 4th July 2021
Tokyo Olympic: What is inspiring Sally Fitzgibbons ahead of surfing debut
She is the staunchest and proudest Aussie you could ever meet. But it is a flag of another nation helping inspire surfer Sally Fitzgibbons ahead of her Olympic debut. |
One month to go before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons at her home beach Gerroa in NSW. Surfing will be included for the first time at these Olympic Games. Pic. Phil Hillyard |
Sally Fitzgibbons has long been dreaming of enfolding herself in an oversized Australian flag and celebrating winning a historic Olympic medal in surfing.
But strangely, it is the flag of another country providing the 29-year-old former world No. 1 with some special inspiration ahead of her chase for gold at the Tokyo Games next month.
“I have a few special things I always have with me,” said the surfer from the far NSW south Coast town of Gerroa who “balled all the way home on the train’’ when she couldn’t get close enough to Cathy Freeman to sign her hat after the 400m runners stunning Sydney Olympic triumph.
“One is a special necklace that mum and dad gave me, part of the Tiffany Atlas series, just after the world surfing game in Japan in 2018 so that's pretty special. I won there whuch is ncie.
“And I always have the Senegal flag with me. At the World Games I surfed against them and it reminds me of how sport crosses over cultures, how sport is so big.
“They wrote a special message on it and translated it means ‘you have the heart of a lion’. I read that. It inspires me. It’s very special.”
Fitzgibbons, who has lightened up and worked overtime to improve her air game for the expected small surf during the Olympics, always knew she wanted to compete at the highest level of sport.
A talented runner she showed precocious talent in surfing and made the switch as a teen, cracking the world tour in 2008 and regularly finishing in the top five surfers in the world.
When surfing was accepted into the Olympic program for Tokyo back in 2016 there was no one more excited than Fitzgibbons.
“It’s an absolute dream come true,” she said.
Now Fitzgibbons, who will compete in Tokyo with seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, Owen Wright and Julian Wilson, is in the box seat to make her dream a reality with a breakthrough win on the world tour in Western Australian this year along with gold at the recent International Surfing Association World Games in El Salvador.
“This feels like part of my DNA. I have lived every version of going to an Olympics for so long,” she said.
“I see myself in the line-up with a big cheesy grin on my face. There’s black sand on the beach, I’m sitting out the back, in the middle of the heat, and I’m going WOW. It feels like home.
“I can’t wait to get there. I am so pumped.’’
This limited-edition watch celebrates Rip Curl's golden anniversary
Born at Bells in 1969, this limited-edition watch celebrates Rip Curl’s golden anniversary. ‘Born at Bells 1969 – 50 Years’ inscribed on the gold inner dial ring, while a gold rotor powers a 21-jewel Japanese automatic movement with date, a 48-hour reserve and a sweep second hand. This limited-edition dive watch comes in a commemorative box with a neoprene lining and a picture of the original Rip Curl surf shop on Boston Road in Torquay, Australia.
You may also be interested.. Search GPS 2 Watch | Next Tide Watch
Photo of the day
Those were the days. Photo: billmorris |
Russell Bierke Stays Employed With O'Neill
O’Neill is proud to announce the resigning of big wave rider Russ Bierke.
From a tiny, blonde grommet charger, to one of the best all-around big wave surfers on the planet, Russ continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in waves of consequence. It was clear to those growing up around this little bloke, that he was different. There was a drive and a quiet determination that shined through whenever the swell lifted. Early slab and outer reefs sessions with the hardcore local crew, and a dad that shaped and had a healthy knowledge of big boards and big surf, all added to Russ’s progress. Hidden away in a country location, to then burst onto the scene at 18 years of age and capture a win in possibly one of the heaviest competitions ever to run. The Red Bull Cape Fear. It was here that the kid put the surfing world on notice, that he meant business.
Over the following 5 years, Russ has qualified for the WSL big wave tour, won Heavy Water awards, and put out short films that have won more awards and shocked the surfing world. His fearlessness and his calm under extreme pressure, has resulted in worldwide respect from his peers. All of this, at the ripe old age of 23.
O’Neill and Russ have developed a solid relationship over the years, built on pushing boundaries in both wetsuit product design and what’s actually possible in the water.
We are looking forward to a long road ahead, full of
innovation and adventure.
This powerful “First name in the Water” clip featuring Russ and filmed by Andrew Kaineder, is a tribute to Russ and the eternal spirit inspired by the man that invented the wetsuit, Jack O’Neill.
#RusselBierke #Australia
10-foot great white shark kills surfer in Australia
A 60-year-old surfer died Sunday in Australia after being bitten by a great white shark that was nearly ten feet long, authorities say.The man, from Queensland, was killed while surfing at Salt Beach near Kingscliff on the far north coast of New South Wales, according to Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Sunday, police and emergency responders were notified that a man had been attacked on the beach. Several other surfers and board-riders had already rushed to rescue him, fighting off the shark then helping the man to shore, local police said a statement.
He was bitten on the back of his thigh, and received first aid on shore for serious injuries on his left leg, but died at the scene, said Surf Life Saving in a statement.
Beaches between the towns of Kingscliff and Cabarita will close for 24 hours.
First responders, police and biologists are now monitoring the area.
SLSNSW is currently working with the NSW DPI and @nswpolice to monitor the area. All beaches from Kingscliff to Cabarita have been closed for the next 24 hrs.
Surf Life Saving deployed multiple jet skis, drones, and helicopters to track down the shark. Authorities spotted it from the air and took photographs.
Shark biologists assessed these photos and the man's bite marks, and determined that it had been a large great white shark measuring about three meters (9.8 feet), according to Surf Life Saving.
The attack is the latest in a handful of other fatal shark encounters in Australia this year. In January, a diver was seemingly attacked by a great white shark off the southern coast of Western Australia, although his body wasn't recovered. In April, a parks and wildlife officer was killed by a shark near the Great Barrier Reef.
Amp Sessions: Kerby Brown in South West Australia
Every trek to Southwest Australia is a massive gamble. The closest hospital is far enough away to make odds grim in life and death situations. Helicopter rescues have been performed. Shark sightings frequently will cause a crew to turn around, burn the petrol, and head home with their tails between their legs. But in a world where it’s getting harder and harder to find a little piece of heaven to yourself, Kerby Brown and film-maker Rick Rifici are willing to roll the dice. A couple weeks ago we got our first look into a future full-length film showcasing their collaboration with a short edit called Born Of Fire. Today we bring you another tease, with our latest Amp Sessions edit showcasing Brown navigating new bends in the continental shelf above and below sea level. Enjoy.
A new Australian style of surfing
Mick Corbett & Jarryd Foster
Part 1 Shipsterns Bluff from Mick Corbett
Mick Corbett and Jarryd Foster surf big Shipsterns.
Part 2 Right Left from Mick Corbett
Mick Corbett and Jarryd Foster surf heavy slabs in Western Australia.
Part 3 Cow Bombie from Mick Corbett
Mick Corbett and Jarryd Foster surf Giant Cow Bombie in Western Australia.
Filmers: Chris Bryan and Tim Bonython
Editor: Mick Corbett
Art On Surfboard
Bells Beach |
Tiki |
Sun's Out Buns Out |
Shark Bite |
Captain Shredbeard |
Kelly Slater |
Poseidon |
SHADOWS
Big swell at North Narrabeen following the huge storms that hit the east coast of Australia.
Equipment // Sony A7S II & Phantom 3
Music // MISSINCAT - Ten Lines (The Land Below Remix)
MISSINCAT [http://www.missincat.com / https://www.facebook.com/MISSINCAT]
The Land Below [https://soundcloud.com/thelandbelow / https://www.facebook.com/thelandbelowmusic]
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