Kelly Slater is No Longer on the Championship Tour. So, What's Next?
It wasn't supposed to end like this.
The 11-time world champion. A guy with 56 event wins over four decades. The oldest and youngest world champion. No way the GOAT's long and illustrious 'CT career would come to an end at 3- to- 4 foot Margaret River, right?
Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.
Against Griffin Colapinto in the Round of 32, Kelly Slater never found any rhythm, ending the heat with two measly 3 point rides to get cut from the CT. After being chaired up the stairs for the last time as a full time competitor, Slater reflected on his emotions in a raw interview with Stace Galbraith. As the interview unfolded, you could see the weight of the moment take hold of Slater. Around 11:20 in the clip above, he breaks down.
"It's just so much emotion for so long," Slater says, fighting back the tears. "It's not all roses, but it's been the best time of my life. I know my family is at home watching, love you guys. I couldn't quite pull a miracle off this week. But I still had that hope out there, you know? Like a wave might still pop up with a minute to go [laughs].
"I'm still avoiding all of that emotion, but I can feel it bubbling up. It really hit me at Sunset this year. I've been fighting through the recovery [from hip surgery], this year, but I kinda broke down to Kalani at Sunset; I told her: this feel like the end."
Unfortunately for Slater — and for surf fans everywhere, this is, in fact, the end.
At least it's the end of Slater's time as a full time CT competitor. While he didn't use the "R" word in his interview, he also didn't say anything about asking the WSL for another season wildcard, which would effectively mean that at 52, he's finally (even if its against his will) retiring from full time competition.
So...what's next? Aside from having a kid soon, Slater also hinted at potentially competing at Snapper next month (pending the forecast), and also mentioned that he did put in for a wildcard in Fiji.
The WSL would be crazy not to grant Slater his Fiji wish, which means Margaret River won't be the last time we see Slater in a CT jersey. A good thing, because Slater certainly deserves better than that.
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