After experiencing an early knockout at the Margaret River Pro, Kelly Slater will return as a wildcard in Fiji and Tahiti this year.
Falling short of claiming he’s retiring, 11x Kelly Slater left the Margaret River Pro in April cut from the tour. “Everything must come to an end,” he said after being chaired up the iconic stairs after losing his heat.
Between the outpouring of support to the WSL’s own commitments, calls were made and deals struck to let the GOAT have another shot. And what better send off for what many call the greatest surfer of all time than Cloudbreak and Teahupo’o.
The Greatest Surfer of All Time
On paper, there’s no other athlete that comes close. 11 world championships and 56 championship event wins. He also holds the record for being the youngest and the oldest world champ. His first world championship victory was in 1992 at age 20. His last was in 2011, at age 39.
Today, Kelly, who is 52, is still competing against the world’s elite. The majority of them are less than half his age.
Fiji and Tahiti Events
First up on Kelly’s final run before exiting stage left will be Tahiti, starting May 22. This event is special to Kelly, being held on one of the heaviest waves on the planet.
The wave is called Teahupoʻo. Here, open ocean swells from the southern ocean slam into a shallow reef. The reef forms so abruptly out of the depths that it creates a heaving left-hand slab. Just the type of wave the king of surfing would want.
After putting in heroics at Teahupo’o, Kelly will compete in his last event in Fiji in late August. There are two world class waves available depending on the conditions, Restaurants and Cloudbreak. The latter is one of Kelly’s favorite waves on the planet.
There is a small—maybe not for Kelly—chance of getting a wildcard again for the 2025 season. For this to happen, he would need to take out both events plus a few events on the Challenger Series.
Retirement? He will make the call.