Who Is Carissa Moore: In a historic moment, Carissa Moore, a four-time world champion surfer, won the first ever gold medal in surfing, a sport that made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics this year. The game-changer from team United States scored waves of 7.33 and 7.60 and exceeded South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag’s total score of 8.46. South African surfer Bianca Buitendag claimed the silver, while placed third, Japan’s Amuro Tsuzuki defeated the USA’s Caroline Marks to claim the bronze medal.
Who is Carissa Moore?
Inspired by her father, Moore started surfing when she was five years old. She always wanted to become a pro surfer and dad Chris Moore served as her primary coach, winning national and international awards at just 15, as per USA Today Sports.
She became the youngest surfer to qualify for the Women’s Championship Tour and in 2018 she was named World Surf League Rookie of the year. At just 18 years old, she became the youngest person to win a surfing world title, Team USA noted. She was also the first woman to compete in the Triple Crown of Surfing, which is considered Hawaii’s most prestigious contest series featuring the world’s best male surfers. Moore was eventually inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame at the age of 21.
The 28-year-old has won world championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019. However, in the next three years, she failed to win a title and lost her signature confidence. The American surfer made a comeback and won the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup in April this year, becoming the women's world number one in the process. Meanwhile, she pulled off "the best aerial ever seen in women's competition" during her last outing.
The Hawaii-based surfer already made history when she competed in the first-ever surfing event at the Olympics, as the sport made its debut this year. In 2016, the state of Hawaii declared January 4 Carissa Moore Day to honor the powerhouse surfer’s impressive accomplishments. She runs a non-profit Foundation "Moore Aloha”, whose mission is to inspire and empower young girls to share, in and out of the water.
Feature Image Credit: Bearsurfboards.eu
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