Honolulu’s Carissa Moore is at the top of the World Surf League rankings and can clinch her fourth world championship with a good showing at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal.
If she gets help from other competitors’ early exits, Moore can clinch it by making the semifinals of the Portugal event, which is the second-to-last stop on the WSL’s world tour with a holding period that started Tuesday and runs through Oct. 28.
“I am so excited to be back,” Moore said. “I actually looked up on YouTube that last event that we had here (that she won in 2010) to reminisce and get excited about it. I’m really happy to be back, and I think all the girls are. I’m trying not to over think the title race, and I’m just super thankful to be in this position, and I know there’s still work to be done, so I’m just going to try my best.”
Whether she clinches in Portugal depends on how WSL high-ranked surfers No. 2 Lakey Peterson of Santa Barbara, Calif., No. 3 Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia, and No. 4 Caroline Marks of Melbourne Beach, Fla., also do. Even if Moore wins the Portugal contest, she won’t obtain the world championship there unless Peterson loses in or before the semifinals.
If the clinching doesn’t happen in Portugal, Moore will have another shot at it at on the tour’s final stop in the Hawaii Pro at Maui’s Honolua Bay (Nov. 25-Dec. 6). Moore won world titles in 2001, ’13 and ’15.
In addition, if Moore finishes as one of the top two Americans in the final rankings, she will qualify for the Toyko 2020 Olympics.
Florence entered in two Triple Crown contests
Haleiwa’s John John Florence, who is rehabbing an ACL injury, is entered into the first two Triple Crown of Surfing contests — the Hawaiian Pro (Nov. 13-24) at Haleiwa’s Alii Beach Park and the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25-Dec. 7) at Sunset Beach.
It’s a sign that Florence, who hurt his knee during the Oi Rio Pro in Brazil in June and subsequently had surgery, is getting close to recovery. In an August interview with ESPN, Florence talked of his extensive rehab and his quest to make the Olympic team, and said that surfing the final Triple Crown contest — the Pipe Masters (Dec. 8-20) at Ehukai Beach — is a possibility if it will help him qualify.
Despite missing five contests, Florence won two of the five events he competed in and is ranked No. 8 on the men’s tour. He is also the second-ranked American, which means he is in position to qualify for Tokyo. But others can pass him in the final two contests (Portugal and Pipe), including Hawaii’s Seth Moniz (No. 11, third American) and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater (No. 13, fourth American) of Cocoa Beach, Fla. No. 5 Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif., currently holds the top U.S. qualifying spot for the Olympics.
