Honolulu’s Carissa Moore clinches fourth world surfing title
Honolulu’s Carissa Moore wrapped up her fourth women’s world surfing title this morning at Honolua Bay on Maui.
Moore became the 2019 World Surf League champion when the only other competitor with a chance to pass her in the season-long race, Caroline Marks, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Lululemon Maui Pro, the world tour’s finale.
“I was trying to maintain focus, knowing I had another heat coming up” Moore said in the middle of a few whoops after the victory. “Oh my gosh. Years of work and growing and learning. I have so many friends and family here and I want to share it with them.”
Marks, from Melbourne Beach, Fla., went down in the quarters to six-world champ Stephanie Gilmore of Australia 13.73 to 11.50.
Not long after winning the world title, Moore lost in the Maui Pro semifinal heat to Gilmore, whose most recent world title was in 2018. Gilmore’s win was by a 15.94 to 15.07 score and she moved on to the final against fellow Australian Tyler Wright.
Moore also won world championship in 2011, ’13 and ’15. This year, she won the Corona Open in July and the Roxy Pro France in October.
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As the top two surfers on the tour, Moore and Marks clinched spots for the U.S. in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Monday, when they advanced to the Maui Pro quarterfinals.