First surfing competition I went to, I was 14 or 15.
And I remember watching the professional women at the time.
And I was just thinking,
"Yeah, that's what I wanna be.
I'm gonna be the best surfer in the world."
It just felt so natural.
There's something about the performance of it.
Sort of having that stage.
I tried dancing and all kinds of things,
but surfing was so feminine and so stylish.
Fast forward two years, the very same event.
And I was given that shot, into that contest.
Took a couple of days off school.
My first year on as a rookie,
I beat all of my heroes and ended up winning the world title.
And then I won it the year after that, and I won it the year after that.
And then I won it the year after that.
We see Gilmore up again.
She is trying to line up some tube.
For this one, setting up on the inside. An amazing read.
She comes through. What an effort.
To me, rides don't get much more perfect.
I remember Steph coming on early in her career.
And clear and far and away gonna be
the best woman surfer we've ever seen.
Stephanie Gilmore is now a seven-time world champion.
I don't know-- I dig Steph. I'm a huge fan. So--
Where to from now? Eight, nine? Kelly Slater, where do we go?
I hate that question.
There's only gonna be one Steph.
She's an icon of our sport.
But when you look at the earlier years in her competitive career,
it was a totally different time.
Gilmore just with that clean, swooping style.
As women's surfing has moved and evolved,
it is a lot harder to win.
Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Ticking the boxes in terms of the speed, power, flow.
Now you've got new surfers
who are being a bit more explosive.
Johanne Defay, very aggressive.
And a lot more physical with their approach to the wave.
Carissa Moore, during the break, she surprised herself.
It's almost like you're watching two different sports.
Classical maneuvers, like Gilmore…
She has so much finesse and grace.
…up against some high-risk aerial or a show of power.
And that's how the perception of the sport is changing.
To Steph, that's challenging. She's always been the style queen,
so she has to win to prove that she still deserves to be a contender.
It's so early. I don't do the early that often.
When I was a rookie, maybe, but…
Johanne, I swear, she leaves at, like, 4:00 a.m.
They're a different breed of human, those ones.
Thanks for the party pack.
It's my job.
This is my 15th year on tour.
Lucky board shorts. I'm not really superstitious, but…
So I'm pretty confident with my style. But it's getting a lot harder.
This new generation of women,
they're incredibly talented and they like to put on a show.
Speed, explosive maneuvers.
Let's go.
My season this year hasn't been that great.
I don't even remember the last time I won an event.
Do you guys know when that was?
Look, I can't believe I'm the oldest girl on tour.
It's gone so quick.
Is it rude to ask you how old you are?
No, I'm 33.
Thirty-seven was probably the oldest that a woman retired, maybe.
I'm sure having children and trying to do the tour would be tough.
Not that I'm, like, rushing to have kids,
but I kinda get a little envious of the boys, who are, like,
"Yeah, I just wanna pump out a soccer team
and keep my career going at the same time."
You know, like, must be nice.
Because of the talent on the tour, you can't be half in, half out.
I have to switch it on and to find a way to win at all costs.
I'm a seven-times World Surfing Champion,
but I gotta win one more to be the greatest of all time.
Heading into Mexico, it's game on.
Buenos días. Welcome, everybody,
to this beautiful part of the world, Barra de La Cruz.
The Corona Open Mexico, presented by Quiksilver,
for stop number seven
of the World Surf League Championship Tour.
-Look at this little guy. -Hey, mate.
That's the welcome ceremony right here.
He's doing the crip walk.
With two events remaining on the championship tour
to qualify for the WSL finals, the chances are limited.
Mexico, Tahiti, that's it.
To make it to the WSL finals at the end of the season,
this year the surfers are essentially surfing for a top-five finish.
The top five surfers at the end of Mexico and Tahiti
are gonna move on to surf for that world title.
Tyler Wright dropped to number seven in the world.
Johanne Defay, with a win, is now in second.
Tatiana, now fourth on that list.
Stephanie Gilmore, one of the all-time greats,
hasn't won an event this year.
If you wanna push for a world title,
you need to be making the finals, winning events.
And right now, that's not where Steph is.
She has to win the Mexico to stay in that top five
and make it to the WSL finals.
We're watching Stephanie Gilmore versus Bronte Macaulay.
Stephanie, considered the most stylish surfer on the planet.
Smooth, polished, elegant.
Here we go.
Bronte Macaulay, lead drop on her backhand.
That's gonna be a huge score.
A 6.4.
On their day, anyone on this tour
can overcome the world champions.
And Steph Gilmore is gonna be well and truly aware of that now.
Stephanie Gilmore, you need 6.87.
There we go. Come on.
Stephanie Gilmore. The smiling assassin.
I want to show the world
that, you know, female surfing is so beautiful and cool,
but we can be competitive.
She has the capacity to perform very critical maneuvers with style.
For opponents who underestimate Steph, it's always gonna be dangerous.
Pushing a little bit harder on that maneuver.
It's a 7.37.
Tres, dos, uno.
Stephanie takes it away.
You're sitting fifth right now.
There's three girls kinda fighting for that spot.
It's a really tough one. I'm trying not to think about it.
I guess. Thanks for bringing it up.
Anyway, thank you. Congratulations, Steph.
Thanks so much. See ya.
Cheers.
Steph's got so much arsenal
that she feels like she doesn't have to go to ten out of ten all the time
to go and win a heat.
And then you've got women like Johanne Defay.
She's won an event this year.
And she's ready to throw everything at every section.
Every five or ten years you see kind of a new push,
a new generation coming up and doing better.
She is part of that generation. They grew up idolizing Steph.
Now they're definitely surfing for that crown.
My name is Johanne Defay, and I'm a professional surfer.
I was born in the middle of France, where there's no ocean.
So, my life was not planned to be this way.
Johanne was one of those surfers
that you just didn't really see her coming.
They tell me I'm the dark horse.
That's where I compete the most, when people are not expecting me.
If she can make that top five,
could really cause some big upsets.
I really wanna be in that top five
because, yeah, it can just change maybe my whole career, you know.
This is gonna be a great matchup.
France's Johanne Defay and Brisa Hennessy.
Conditions are pretty good.
There's a lot of scoring potential.
Okay, first wave.
Johanne Defay, nice section to work with there.
There she come. Let's see what is she gonna do now.
Physically, it's very tiring for the legs.
But I feel strong in my body, and that's what I rely so much on to win.
Red, first turn is awesome.
It's really nice.
Good job, girl.
She's on the priority now.
Johanne Defay, with priority, enjoying the first pick of waves.
Johanne, she has that aggressiveness.
Bam!
She got a really good one. That's a really good one.
Johanne Defay, 6.23.
Okay, let's go!
Brisa Hennessy.
Big score.
Is Johanne Defay needing to get a score here?
I've been able to, like, save a little bit my legs
and to be able to, like, push at the right time.
Answering back. Johanne Defay.
Punch.
Seems like she's waiting for it. Now goes up in a lift. Big finish.
Yes. A well-warranted fist pump there from Johanne Defay. Showing some emotion.
A good finish.
Looking sharp, and it's the best turn of this heat.
Yeah. Good finish.
I think Johanne puts her heart and soul into what she's doing.
But Johanne's journey has not been straightforward at all.
Surfing, it's a expensive sport.
It's so important to actually get a sponsor.
Until my 18 years old,
Roxy pretty much paid all my expenses for my sport.
But at the end of that year,
I was 19 and then Roxy didn't renew the contract.
It's really common
for some of the women to not have financial backing.
So, if I compare to, like, Steph Gilmore,
like, it's crazy.
Steph's got sponsorships with Breitling,
Nikon, and Audi.
For someone like Johanne, going for a world title,
losing sponsors, it could make a huge difference.
Unfortunately, on the women's side,
there's like this elite few women that are making really good money.
And then the rest of the field are kinda like scraping by.
All right. Action.
My name is Tatiana Weston-Webb.
I'm 25 years old and I'm a professional surfer.
Tatiana is sort of, like, the X factor of the tour.
Those look good.
I would, like, really love to try the oysters too.
There's a lot of financial disparity on tour.
So, you've got to be the cream of the crop if you're getting paid.
You have to kind of encapsulate this full package.
You've got to be, like, super marketable.
Fry me.
I really wanna win the world title.
There's just so many people that have doubted me in the past,
and I would just love to prove people wrong.
Even though Steph's a seven-time world champ,
I can still beat her.
Should feed one to the camera.
First me, and then the camera.
Food makes me happy. And surfing.
But mostly food.
And surfing.
Tatiana is a very tenacious competitor.
You know, she's "take no prisoners"
and she's gonna do it however she needs to get it done.
In the next heat, Sage Erickson and Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Right there. That is her signature snap.
Super powerful.
Big closeout.
Can she stand up?
Make it clear to the judges that you're in control.
She really killed it.
Smaller wave. Very nicely surfed.
Weston-Webb, going to work here.
Girls like myself and Johanne go into those power maneuvers
because that's what the judges like to see.
It's aggressive and beautiful at the same time.
Little flashes of glamour.
Tatiana, she's been chipping away
at the likes of Carissa, Steph, Tyler for the past few years.
Now I feel like she's got confidence in herself that she belongs there.
She isn't intimidated one bit.
Tati Weston-Webb in command of this heat.
I'm a aggressive competitor.
I gotta be stone cold and ready for anything.
Tati takes off.
Sage Erickson in front of her.
I think she stops Tati. Sage thinking that she had priority.
We have a situation.
Did Sage Erickson hinder
the scoring potential of Tatiana Weston-Webb?
Priority was on red?
So it's an interference.
An interference is where you get in their way,
prevent them from catching a wave they have priority for,
hindering the scoring potential of another surfer's wave.
It was a mistake by Sage,
giving Tati the opportunity to get her on an interference.
Once you have an interference, you lose the whole of your second scoring rights,
so you're just counting one score,
which obviously is gonna be much harder for you to win the heat.
So mathematically, Sage cannot win.
So it's gonna be Tatiana Weston-Webb advancing through.
-I had first priority. -Fucking cheap.
I would expect more from you.
Not fucking that shit.
There's no fucking way she should've had priority.
And she fucking asked me, "Who has priority?"
I said, "I have priority."
She sits there and goes, "why would I do that?"
You knew exactly what you were doing.
Why would you go on that wave? It was a piece of shit anyways.
She's calling me cheap.
She's saying that I'm fucking cheap and…
I'm just playing the game, man.
Tatiana, Carissa. They're so aggressive on waves.
Aggressive as like…
Like paddling on top of you. They're in your personal space.
And, like, it may not be pretty all the time,
but it frickin' gets the scores.
And that's what we're here for.
But that's not on the scoring criteria.
It's, like, speed, power, flow, isn't it? It's not aggression.
That's true.
-I'm feeling good about this one. -Yeah.
The Rip Curl WSL final's right around the corner,
so we're filling in those spots as we go.
Carissa Moore.
Looks like she wants to add another champ to her list.
Sally Fitzgibbons is a clinched spot in the WSL final five.
Two-time world champion Tyler Wright,
taken out by Isabella Nichols.
If she wants to get into that top five of utmost importance,
she needs some big results heading into Tahiti.
Good evening.
The main headline tonight:
Pressure is mounting on hospital services in French Polynesia
due to the alarming growth in the number of cases of COVID-19.
With more than 2,000 new daily cases,
38 patients died this weekend after contracting the virus.
You see that message about Tahiti?
And Tahiti just got put under a red zone.
I'm here to announce we've made the decision
to cancel our Tahiti Championship Tour event
due to COVID-19.
Basically, if you're not in the top five at the end of this event,
you're not winning a world title.
The last event of the year is canceled, so this is it.
This is it for making it into the top five picture
to make it to the WSL finals.
So, it changes everything.
That's bullshit.
I hate COVID.
"ICU hospital beds are at capacity.
It's gone in 48 hours from manageable to not."
Fucking brutal.
Cases are now in the village, which is where we'll be staying.
-It's off, huh? -Yeah.
-All right. Shit. -Yep.
The government's gonna close the border.
I feel like there was a couple of other girls
who were hoping that Tahiti would be their safety net,
and they could get a good result there and jump up a few spots in the rankings.
As soon as they canceled Tahiti,
I was like, "Okay, I just need to get a good result here in Mexico
because there's no more events after this."
So, whole lot more pressure on this event.
Especially when you're sitting at number five.
It is.
It's all smoke and mirrors.
Smoke and mirrors.
I know there's something burning in there.
You can't hide it, Steph.
Do you think Steph's got an aggressive side?
Oh, hell yeah.
-Aggressive? -I'm intimidated. She intimidates me.
She just hides it with a smile.
She grew up in Snapper.
She's just lethal in that lineup.
That's one of the heaviest lineups in the world,
and she's owned it with a smile.
Knowing that there's a world title on the line,
I just need to be in the top five.
I think Tati will be the hardest one to overcome,
but style separates you.
I'm actually kind of annoyed.
They need to be banned from saying the word "style."
It's almost like that's all I've got.
That's all you need.
-No, but-- It's not. -And it's not all you've got.
You got seven world titles and more fricking wins than anyone.
In Australia at the Margaret River event…
I kind of struggled against Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Tati representing Brazil.
Just dominating this season.
Stephanie representing Australia.
Tatiana really looking dangerous.
The new generation, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Johanne Defay,
stepped up their power game against Steph with her classical maneuvers.
Tatiana, she's so strong. I just couldn't put a great heat together.
Steph Gilmore off her game.
Tatiana Weston-Webb with a win over Stephanie Gilmore.
Your champion, Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Losing really stung.
It made me realize how much I wanna--
to really find that drive to wanna win again
and beat all of the best girls.
These girls are strong. They got big quads, big butts.
I think I'm the leanest of all of them.
We are officially into the quarterfinals.
Gilmore coming into this event fifth in the world,
in a really dangerous position.
Coming into this quarterfinal,
I need to actually consider the fact that I might not be in the top five.
You know, I should be getting better results,
but, yeah, I'm really, like, looking to these women being like,
"What can I be doing to get better?"
I need to beat her.
Next heat:
Tatiana Weston-Webb and Stephanie Gilmore.
Big day again today.
Crucial day.
Thirty seconds on the clock.
I have to remind myself
that I'm at war against this new generation of women.
Tatiana's surfing is explosive.
I really need to mix it up. Just go a lot harder.
Five, four, three, two, one.
And here goes Stephanie Gilmore.
Nice.
Smashed that wave.
Beautiful surfing.
Tatiana Weston-Webb. Air drop.
And that's where Tati's dangerous.
Wave backed off a little bit though. 5.33.
We see Tati up and riding.
Red, very nice carve.
Women who are performing with much more strength,
of course the judges will love it, but, you know, I can't control that.
That's the type of combination you need
if you wanna beat Stephanie Gilmore.
Nice clean carve for Steph.
This could be the last exchange.
I'm gonna surf the way I wanna surf.
I have to switch into a mode where I'm going to be ferocious,
but I'm gonna be feminine at the same time.
Beautiful looking wave a--
Two of the best turns of the exchange.
Tatiana just had a front row seat to a movie she did not wanna watch,
The Stephanie Gilmore Show.
We got it.
That'll do.
As the rest of the girls get so much better,
I think it's important for Steph to remember
that she's the fucking best ever.
Steph's never a easy person to go against,
and that's just not the way that I wanted to fall out of competition.
But overall, at the end of this event,
I have the points to qualify for the world final.
Job done.
She got a big crease in that board.
-Has she really? -Yeah.
-Your repair guy down here? -I don't know.
Must be someone around town here.
-Yeah. -She could try mine. I have a 5'8".
I don't know.
I think she won a couple of events on it.
-Yeah. -She'll be all right.
Hey, Steph.
Well done.
I reckon I got two heats left in this thing till it snaps.
Kelly just said you can ride his board. He's talking it up.
Yeah, that'd be nice.
And the waves are still pumping.
We got a great matchup here between Johanne Defay and Malia Manuel.
To know that I've done everything that I can in my power to give my best,
that's how I wake up happy in the morning, you know.
Let's go, girl.
It is Johanne Defay.
Big foamy section coming at her.
So unfortunate.
Nothing she could have done different on that wave.
Malia Manuel building speed.
She's reading this wave like a book.
Wave selection on point.
Show your surf, Johanne, show your surf.
It's Johanne Defay needing to get a score here.
Huge air drop.
Johanne Defay goes down.
The difference in wave selection, just really unlucky for Johanne.
I'm sure everyone watching in France is disappointed
to see this young lady lose the heat.
Malia Manuel in the final with Steph Gilmore.
Johanne Defay lost that heat, but just by making the quarterfinal,
she's gonna lock herself into that final five.
The way that she was so determined,
after losing a big sponsorship, to be in that top five,
she's gotta be incredibly proud of herself.
You've clinched your spot in the finals at Lower Trestles. We'll see you there.
Thank you, Kaipo. I'll see you there.
My goal was to get to the world finals.
And, now, beating top surfers like Steph Gilmore is my next challenge.
Buenos días and happy finals day.
It is a gorgeous morning.
Next heat: Malia Manuel from Hawaii
versus Stephanie Gilmore.
Finalmente. Finally, the moment we've been waiting for.
No spectators on the beach, but the spectators that we do have
just happen to be the world's best surfers themselves.
To finish off an incredible event,
Malia Manuel and Stephanie Gilmore.
Steph's up against a huge challenge.
Malia is, you know, one of those women that are just really powerful,
pretty unpredictable,
where Stephanie's not just looking to get in the final five
to go for her eighth world title.
She's fighting to keep her style relevant.
She's fighting for her career.
Finish the job.
Off to the races.
I don't back horse racing.
I need to remind myself that I have the experience.
I can beat those girls.
My style has won seven world titles.
I don't need to change.
This is me today. This is what you get.
Next heat, nine minutes, 30 seconds.
Nine minutes, 30 seconds.
You look at Steph and she's like,
"I'm just all about fun and surfing and grace."
But she wouldn't be here if she didn't wanna win.
She wouldn't be here if she didn't wanna be the absolute GOAT.
And her serious face comes on and… disappears.
When she becomes the competitor, she's a different person.
Thirty seconds on the clock.
Last heat of this regular season.
Yeah. Go, Steph.
Look at these waves.
Fucking hell.
Three, two, one.
Seamless start for Gilmore.
A beautiful barrel ride.
Pipe drainer. Crack it.
Yeah!
Steph typically, absolutely coming out swinging.
Manuel ready to answer.
She'll free fall and control.
Great position. Drills the next section.
Ride will put her in the lead.
Here we go. Big one.
Look at Gilmore with a big opportunity.
Lights up the first section.
Wow. Here's a ten. Fucking come on. Belt it.
This is where Stephanie Gilmore just shines.
Fuck. She's ripping.
All that's important is the win at all cost.
-No pits. Finish it. -Steph. Steph.
Gilmore, a hard finish,
yet she keeps her board on top of the water.
Needs a 5.87 for the lead.
Stephanie Gilmore, your last ride is a 8.5.
For the queen of women's surfing, it's an 8.5.
Holy shit.
-That was a big score. -Yeah. Big-- Yeah.
That's gotta shut the door.
Here we go. Another big one.
Steph Gilmore using that priority for this wave.
Bottom drops out.
Fuck.
Malia needs just a 7.57,
and with the way she's been surfing, that's easily attainable.
Five minutes on the clock.
-There you go. -Five minutes.
How is this one setting up for Manuel?
Big open wall.
Goes for the carve off the top but loses it.
Wow.
I think that might have been the last opportunity she had.
Thirty seconds. It's pretty quiet. There's no more waves.
It will be Stephanie Gilmore.
Seven, six, five, four, three, two…
Yeah!
…one.
Women's surfing has come so far
in ways like power and strength and technique.
It's fierce, but it's feminine and it's cool
and it's sexy and it's athletic.
We all surf very differently, but all of it equally competitive.
And that's really all that matters.
She will now take the fourth spot in the WSL final five.
I don't care how people perceive my surfing.
We just have to be unafraid and drive that feeling of, like,
"Fuck you. I want it more than you."
Then you can go all the way.
I have definitely thought about how it would look, how it would feel,
being an eight-time world champion.
Eight's a beautiful number.
Gracias por todo. The women's final
for the World Surf League Championship Tour.
That was amazing.
It felt like the two best-in-form surfers from start to finish ended up squaring off
in one of the best finals I've seen.
Steph is definitely taking
not just women's surfing to another stratosphere,
but I think surfing in general.
But the challenge for her in future years
is to keep her classic style in contention.
Now, your champion's someone that you're very familiar with.
Someone at some point is gonna have to make a decision
how to give each of these two types of surfing an opportunity to thrive.
Peaking at the final event of the season,
seven-time world champ Stephanie Gilmore.
Or we'd say that that's the way of the future, and that's it.
Either get your A-game on or get off the tour.
Oh, my gosh.
-Can't believe it. -Holy sugar.
This is the best feeling ever.
I love winning.
-Been a while. -It's been a while.
Yeah. You got it.
You're going to Trestles to take number eight.
Oh, my goodness.
The wait is finally over.
Five…
Any of those surfers could walk away with a world title.
Four…
Can you perform when it matters most?
Three…
It's about putting your name down in the history books. Becoming a legend.
-Two… -I will win.
I will win.
-One. -Let's go!