John Florence Confirms Knee Injury, Pulls Out Of Uluwatu Event

As reported yesterday, John Florence has injured his knee while freesurfing in Bali. The two-time Champ has finally addressed his injury on Instagram, while also taking the opportunity to respond to critics who have questioned his competitive drive in the 2018 season.

John said: “This year has been so much fun regardless of my results. Through some of the tough losses Ive learned more than I have in the past couple years. That’s why I love competing — the chance to learn is always there, win or lose. I love the drive to win you get from a loss. I feel like I’m more driven to win than ever from this year. Unfortunately I hurt my knee during a freesurf here in Bali, and I have to pull out of the next event to get back and heal up as quickly as possible. I was trying bottom turns in the yard last night to see if there is any way for me to possibly surf this event, but nothing about it felt right. Haha! I think it’s best I heal 100% before I get back in the water. When I was a little kid I watched my favorite surfers winning events and trying big airs and big maneuvers and dreamed of doing those things. I will never lose that. I’m excited for everything to come. I hope to come out of this injury smarter and more excited than I have ever been.”

John’s coach Ross Williams also expressed his sentiments on The Champ’s post-loss session, which resulted in the buckled knee. 

“John is like any other guy out here, when he has pent up energy from a frustrating loss, he’s going to find a way to decompress. Johns style of decompressing is looking for big sections and sending it. I was holding my breath the minute he paddled out. I knew he was feeling jumpy. At one point I looked at him from the beach and gestured to take it easy! Haha. In my position it’s sketchy watching him surf like that cause I want him to be ready for the next comp, but you can’t tell someone like John to just surf safe. It’s not in his nature……..thankfully so.”

Stab wishes John the best in his recovery process.