Joel Parkinson is the 2012 ASP World Champion

After finishing second in the world four times in his career, Joel Parkinson, 31 years old and from the Gold Coast, has just won his first ASP world title. Ending a year of blinding consistency, albeit without an event win, he clocked more points than any other man on tour and will now place the golden ASP cup in his trophy room. Probably in a specially-reserved spot. And, why not? The man has earned it.

"I may've not won an event, but this is where I wanted to stand at the end of the year," said Joel. "I can't describe what this feels like. I've had a bunch of runner ups. I've had some ups and downs and I've had some injuries. I've been through hell and back. All the support I've had, the #GoParko thing was huge, and I thank everybody here today and everybody all over the world that was supporting me. Thank you so much."

"One day you wake up feeling good, the next day you wake up feeling like a loser. You never know how you're going to feel when you wake up, but today I woke up feeling like a champion. I wanna dedicate this first and foremost to my family."