Here’s why Kelly is the best

Its easy to become the best at the sport when you intimidate the corporation that runs it. Yes 11 world titles is great, will probably go down in history as the greatest. But he will no way be the best SURFER – Competitive Surfer perhaps – But SURFER – NO. I applaud KS he has taken us mainstream, made the wall street bankers know what surfing is and has given sushi train workers the world over hope, hope that one day they too will be plucked from obscurity and put on the arm of a talented bald man. Kelly has taken alot from surfing, world titles, dreams from his fellow compeptitors What has he given back? He refuses to sign autographs for the small children that make him who he is. When I think of the best I think of people with heart, with soul AI FOREVER. The JORDANS, WOODS etc. Kelly is a smart man, smart enough to build a tour that relies on his appearance at every stop, smart enough to shape a judging criteria around his surfing strangths, though I admit there is few weaknesses in his game, he has become the ASP one man behind an entire corporation and for that ill give him props.

The average westy who watches footy and gets stoked on a nissan skylines will never see surfing as a real sport which is why Kelly is not getting the recognition he deserves. F*ck the mainstream

Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships. Sorry to burst Quiks bubble.

Had to have a chuckle about the “music” stats … Ha, totally relevant! … why not just put some stats on how many bits of arse he’s slaughtered too? Seriously, you’re getting pretty “out there” when you’re listing his number of jam sessions!

shit yeah. a list of the tail he’s got would be a lot more impressive

That looks like a lot of time invested in a lot of numbers that will never add up because surfing is too counter-culture to be considered a real sport. As much as I believe it, sorry kelly.

The average westy who watches footy and gets stoked on a nissan skylines will never see surfing as a real sport which is why Kelly is not getting the recognition he deserves. F*ck the mainstream

Had to have a chuckle about the “music” stats … Ha, totally relevant! … why not just put some stats on how many bits of arse he’s slaughtered too? Seriously, you’re getting pretty “out there” when you’re listing his number of jam sessions!

Hey Yewrl, I own a Nissan skyline GTR, lived on the beaches my whole life and have surfed everyday for 25 years… Cars are another sport and hobby I enjoy.. I also know footy heads that surf everyday and see surfing as a legit sport. So dont pigeon hole people champ… I see surfing as the greatest sport in the world (that and motor racing…) so many variables, always evolving and what an arena!!

Could one of you hipster geniuses ask kelly for his insight into the fall of tiger woods? I’d read that. I lie in bed at night thinking about the worlds best golferlosing his magic touch after being sprung banging waitresses and I’m sure Kelly does too.

Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships. Sorry to burst Quiks bubble.

What a bias pice of shit report. Fuck Quiksilver.

Kelly, the surfer from outer space, a superhuman among us no doubt. All heil the bald one!

Happened to forget about Giacomo Agostini too who won 15 moto grand prix world champs. Kelly is an amazing athlete but pointless comparisons.

apples are one thing, onions are another.

Michael Jordan??? Plenty of MVP’s. NBA isn’t considered the world governing body in basketball but come on, he was the worlds best six times. Shit list.

As Was reported where you got this from. Sebastian Loeb 8 times consecutive world rally champion more than Kelly. 70 title wins 20 more than Kelly. And won in more countries than Kelly. Its also not very objective, when the judges are so biased towards him.

Its easy to become the best at the sport when you intimidate the corporation that runs it. Yes 11 world titles is great, will probably go down in history as the greatest. But he will no way be the best SURFER – Competitive Surfer perhaps – But SURFER – NO. I applaud KS he has taken us mainstream, made the wall street bankers know what surfing is and has given sushi train workers the world over hope, hope that one day they too will be plucked from obscurity and put on the arm of a talented bald man. Kelly has taken alot from surfing, world titles, dreams from his fellow compeptitors What has he given back? He refuses to sign autographs for the small children that make him who he is. When I think of the best I think of people with heart, with soul AI FOREVER. The JORDANS, WOODS etc. Kelly is a smart man, smart enough to build a tour that relies on his appearance at every stop, smart enough to shape a judging criteria around his surfing strangths, though I admit there is few weaknesses in his game, he has become the ASP one man behind an entire corporation and for that ill give him props.

Hey! Why isn’t Manny Paquiao in the List. Anyway, I think they wasted a lot of time working on this list. Reading it at the beginning, I felt excited and impressed. But then as the list goes on, I’m starting to think how pathetic it’s become. It’s given that Slater is the best surfer in the world and I’d fight for that opinion any given time, but they didn’t had to show it in our faces like this. But hey, business is business. Right Quicksilver?

Is this just a big set up to get Kelly on the cover of sports illustrated?

What about Jamie Mitchell? No doubt Kelly would be the first to say Jamie is a more accomplished athlete than he is.

How about Pele!? he has been recognized as the athlete of the century, even got knighthood from queen Elizabeth (who gives a shit about that one) but not on the list?!

I would like to see all of the AVN winners in action – they would give Kelly a run for his money.

Is kelly slater John John dad

ridiculous! pointless comparisons…
MUSIC???? wtf!!!! why put this into the list??

Björn Dunkerbeck (born 16 July 1969) is a professional windsurfer.
who has won Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) Overall World Championships a record twelve times(consecutive).

title list.

Overall World Champion (1988–1999)
Race World Champion (1988–1999) and 2011
Wave World Champion (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001)
Freestyle World Champion (1998)
Speed World Champion (1994)
That is a whole lot more titles than Kelly.

P.S How can he be called the worlds greatest athlete when he just sat out the worlds best ever session of surfing?

what it all came to in fiji on the big day was simply the men went surfing an kelly slater world champion hid in a bow of a boat

pamela anderson. gisele bunchan. bar rafaeli. cameron diaz. jessica alba. your mum. the list goes on, kelly SLAYER

Dont forget he owns part of QUIk. CORPO Fu@#wit with 11 titles is all i see. Might as well idolize Bernie Madoff.

Definately not the “coolest athlete in the world”

What about Valentino Rossi ?

Ok, no surf fan needed that. No one who knows what the WT is needed that infographic, and the majority of non surfers who knows what surfing is, realises KS is the King in the world of surfing. It is 20 years of dominance. But if you want the guy on the cover of sports illustrated don’t put it as a flaw on his career cause it isn’t, it’s maybe just a healthy obliviousness from the mainstream or some lack of understanding or even some sort of a distance admiration. Most people want to surf, they want to ride the barrel but either they are affraid of the ocean or they are too old to start. To put KS on the cover of SI will increase the crowd in the water? I hope not. But what I do know is that if you are going to pay tribute to someone, it’s better to do it when they are active and winning cause we all know how lame those post honors are.

YEAH THEY SAID THE SAME THING ABOUT KELLY HERO LANCE ARMSTRONG , LIKE LANCE ,LIKE KELLY , A LIE

what about olympians? ………..too many to list …………
something like decathalon… shows many more qualities of an athlete..

Ke1ly 2later.

Cadel Evans – What the hell are you saying or trying to say? are you on drugs? Again – wtf! and Lance aint a lie – so what the hell?!?

lance is a lie like every single bicycle rider, and matt o´brien is a lie too, and a pussy

@ everyone: Quiksilver’s point is that Sports Illustrated needs to pay some respect to an incredibly dominant 11 xs World Champion athlete, in a sport that is both mentally and physically challenging, and at times life-threatening. Face it: Kelly’s surfing skills makes golfers look like they’re a knitting circle. Because they are. On top of that, Kelly has re-written the book on athletic performance in relationship to aging. None of the top athletes in any non-motorized sports can match up to Kelly’s still rising talent at age 40. They ignore him because he is honest in his criticism of the American war machine, and because he makes most other so-called macho athletes look like dweebs. No offense to dweebdom — just sayin’.

People argue that surfing is subjective suck.

A referee in any major sport makes decisions far from beyond reasonable doubt on a day to day basis. Australians recall state of origin game 1 2012, greg inglis try? Its the same in any sport. At least the subjectivity of surfing is rated on a consistent scale of key factors, where as rules in sport are one way or the other. People are dumb, Kelly is king.

Its all about participation rates i reckon…not enough surfers in the world compared to golfers, tennis players, basket ballers etc..So, harder to be the best in the world at those sports…Kelly is a freak no doubt, but he the ASP is too small a competition to have Kelly regarded as the greatest ever….

He has amazing natural talent but doing what he is doing (and seems to be getting better and better) in his 40′s is what is most inspirational about him. Shows what diet, exercise and stretching can do for you if done consistently. Helps to not have to work full time and be a man of leisure for the most part but we can all perform better with age if we soak up some of what he is doing on a consistent basis.

Otherwise Quik’s list is a bit hit and miss but the point is he is an amazing athlete and anyone who surfs knows what it takes physically to be a good surfer. Personally I don’t give a fuck if he doesn’t get on an SI cover, it will only lead to a more crowded line up! Let the heroes on the golf courses keep thinking they are as they hop back into their carts to the next hole! haha

I think the question is does Kelly Slater have more illegitimate children wondering around the world than world titles

TELL ALL THE IDIOTS THAT WORKED ON THE KELLY IS KING KISS ASS MARKETING STRATEGY THAT NOW THANKS TO THEIR INSIGHT .. THE WORLD IS BETTER EDUCATED ABOUT KELLY’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS. . WHAT’S NEXT A RESUME AND A COVER LETTER TO SPORTS ILLUSTRATED?

I tried surfing once, it was pretty fun

saw tom carroll and kelly surfing whale beach together years ago. Tom blew him out of the water i thought. Tom had Tonnes more power.

To me the real signs of just how good he is are the fact that he dominated the new, new school in the aerial attack of the compos in the second half of 2011 as well as totally outsurfing the rest of the competitors in the two most memorable and heaviest compos in a long time(ever?): Chopes 2011 and Cloudbreak 2012. He is still ahead of the game in everyfacet of the sport!

What about this guy ,windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck?
With 35 World Championship titles, no athlete in any sports discipline can top him.12 x PWA All-in-One World Champion (1988–1999)

12 x PWA Race World Champion (1988–1999)
7 x PWA Wave World Champ (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001)
1 x PWA Freestyle World Champion (1998)
1 x PWA Speed World Champion (1994)
1 x PWA Slalom World Champion (2005) –together with Micah Buzianis
1 x ISA Speed World Champion (2005)

In 2006 Bjorn set a world speed record over the distance of a nautical mile with 41.14 knots/76.19 km/h

Ever since he broke into the professional circuit back in 1986, Björn has been considered a true hero among his fellow windsurfers In a career spanning more than two decades, he dominated his sport from the late 80s and throughout the 90s. Björn has broken the world speed sailing record no fewer than seven times, the Nautical mile speed record four times, the 500m Open Ocean speed record twice and the 250m speed record.
He has also won the PWA Overall world champion title a record of 12 times in as many years. Björn held the Race world champion title from 1988-1999, was Wave world champion seven times, the Freestyle world champion of 1998 and the Speed world champion in 1994. A total of 105 PWA titles makes him the most successful windsurfer of his time, and establishes him as a true sensation in the world of professional sport.
Crowned the winner of the Speed Classic 2010, Björn beat French contenders Benoît Moussilmani and Cedric Bordes in what was described as a “pretty hard race”. The wind reached speeds of 40-50 knots offshore on the first day of the race, dropping to around 30 knots on day two with waves a couple of metres high to really test the skill of the athletes. The ‘champion of champions’ also notched up another big win in the same year in the Slalom World Cup, Sylt, giving him an overall ranking of second place.
The other thing about Bjorn, is that while on touhe was a party animal, and while the other guys had there beauty sleep, he was up untill 3am and still smoked them. If Kelly does 13 then he could be considered the greatest.

You should have ended the infographic with him pounding the beer in the barrel at chopes. By far the coolest thing ever done in sports. Ali had nothing on that kind of swagger.

Does Shane Bech 3 x 10 point rides in a heat at kirra not count.

I hate surfing in HB

Sir Donald Bradman

We reached London this afternoon.After you.Bottoms up!He suddenly appeared in the party.Would you like a cup of tea? Columbus discovered America in l492.Close the door after you