11x World Champ Kelly Slater Knocked Off Tour For The First Time In History - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

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Surfing's demigod — 11x World Champ Kelly Slater — after falling off tour today at Margaret River.

11x World Champ Kelly Slater Knocked Off Tour For The First Time In History

Liam O’Brien just eliminated Kelly Slater from the Margaret River Pro.

elsewhere // Apr 22, 2023
Words by Christian Bowcutt
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Read the full day 3 comp report here.

Today, Kelly Slater lost to Liam O’Brien in the Western Australia Margaret River Pro in the Round of 32 — knocking him off Tour for the very first time in his illustrious 33-year-career.

Liam O’Brien (a 23-year-old engineering student from the Gold Coast) paired a 7.83 with a 7.70 to gain a solid early lead over the “G.O.A.T” in the Round of 32. Kelly answered back with a 7.83 of his own but came up 1.53 points short on his backup.

The 51-year-old 11x World Champion — who has spent more than 33 years on tour — will not be surfing in the latter half of the 2023 without a wildcard – which, to be fair, the WSL will almost assuredly offer him (*cough cough* remember the script).

A flash of mortality from surfing’s greatest practitioner.

In his post-defeat speech, Stace Galbraith asked what Kelly’s plans for the future are. His response was vague but resolute, “Plans for the future? I want to get really barreled. I don’t know, I’m not even looking at you, I’m looking at the Box, I just want to go surfing.”

Luckily, we’ll likely see Kelly soon enough at the upcoming Challenger Series event at Snapper Rocks. And with Snapper in glorious form it will be a chance to see our sport’s Achilles leave his tent and mount a comeback worthy of the demigod he is.

Read the full day 3 comp report here.

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