Aug 10 (Reuters) – Kelly Slater advanced to the third round of the Tahiti Pro on Monday after the 54-year-old American overcame Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and some heavy wipeouts at the 2024 Paris Olympics venue of Teahupo’o.
Slater, who recently underwent hip surgery, retired from full-time competition in 2024 and welcomed a third child earlier this year but showed he had lost none of his competitive edge against three-times world champion Medina.
In dangerous, challenging waves, Slater got smashed on his first attempt and was hit even harder on his second wave, breaking his board in two.
But the Floridian recovered and threaded a long, deep tube that scored a 9.73 out of 10 to take the lead. He then backed it up with another excellent score to advance over Medina, who beat Slater in an epic final at the same venue in 2014.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever have another heat with him, and he got me last time,” said Slater, who dominated the first day of competition.
He said he had been motivated by criticism of the decision to award him a wildcard to compete.
“You see those comments, a lot of people doubting me or saying (the opportunity) should have gone to a local wildcard,” he said. “Even after all this time, yeah, I have something to prove.”
Slater finished with an excellent two-wave total of 19.06 out of 20 to set up a third-round meeting with reigning champion Jack Robinson of Australia, who was pushed hard by countryman Callum Robson in round two.
California’s Griffin Colapinto, who was born six years after Slater won the first of his 11 world titles, was the only man to better Slater’s performance in the second round, racking up a perfect 10-point ride on his way to a season-high heat total of 19.6 out of 20.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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