Seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore says she’s eager to have another crack at winning Australia a first ever Olympic surfing gold medal, putting Paris 2024, or in surfing’s case, Tahiti, firmly on her radar.
Gilmore loved her first Olympic experience earlier this year in Tokyo, albeit that it finished in a disappointing elimination prior to the medal rounds, and feels the experience of a first campaign will give her an advantage in the next one in the ultimate surfing arena of Teahupoo, one of the most formidable waves in the world.
“Knowing that Tahiti is only three years away, it’s exciting to think I could still try again and if I apply the experience and lessons learned from Japan, then I could do much better in Tahiti,” Gilmore said.
For those non-core surf fans, Gilmore is the Serena Williams of women’s surfing. Not an opponent anyone on tour wants to match up against, let alone in the early rounds of the sport’s biggest event ever.
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Unfortunately for the woman who came up with ‘The Irukandjis’ Australian surfing team name, it was Gilmore feeling the sting on the beach in Japan after round three of surfing’s Olympic debut.
Eliminating Gilmore was a huge moment for South Africa’s veteran Bianca Buitendag who went on to knock out young gun American Caroline Marks on her path to the silver medal.
Gilmore’s shock early exit blew oxygen on a fire that still hasn’t burnt out.
“Losing so early on in the competition in Japan really reminded me how much I hate losing and also just how badly I wanted to achieve a medal in the Olympics so that’s really a great form of motivation for me to try again,” Gilmore siad.
The Aussie surfing legend wasn’t keen to make excuses or over-analyse the performance. She said a tight team environment and the lack of spectators and atmosphere made the situation on the beach less stressful than what could have been in a non-COVID-19 world.
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“There was definitely added pressure from myself, knowing it was an Olympics games and a huge moment in my career, but it felt strange considering there was no one in the grandstands or on the beach so it was fairly easy to dull the noise of expectation in the head,” Gilmore said.
“We also had a great team support around us to help us be able to paddle out feeling confident and in the best mental space possible.”
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