Five-time world champion Carissa Moore, shown competing in the Billabong Pro Pipeline on Feb. 2, 2022, announced Friday that she is stepping away from competitive surfing. World Surf League / Brent Bielmann photo
Five-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore announced Friday she is stepping away from competitive surfing, calling it “the start of the next chapter.”
The 31-year-old from Honolulu said in a post on Instagram that her decision was difficult and moving on is “nerve racking, but also exciting.”
“This is by no means the end,” Moore wrote. “I’d like to think of this instead as an evolution, the start of the next chapter, a new beginning.”
She acknowledged struggling with motivation in recent years.
Carissa Moore poses with her trophy after claiming her fifth World Surf League title on Sept. 14, 2021. World Surf League / Pat Nolan photo
“The last few years, it’s been harder to find the motivation to keep competing with the same intensity,” she wrote. “I’m an all-in, driven by passion and purpose, kind of girl so anything less than is a struggle. For a long time I thought winning was the definition of success. When you win, everyone is happy, everyone loves you, it puts a band aid on any internal struggles.
“Unfortunately, the reality is, the wins are fleeting and the feelings with it only temporary. I’m not gonna keep doing it for the empty win, there has to be more to it.”
Moore won World Surf League titles in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021. She also won gold for the United States in the inaugural Olympic surf competition at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.
“How many more titles do I really need?” Moore asked in her post. “Being at the top of my game, the external expectation is to keep going, but my heart is telling me it’s time to pivot.”
In a WSL news release, the tour said Moore will compete at the Lexus Pipe Pro — which begins Jan. 29 on Oahu’s North Shore — before withdrawing from the Championship Tour and will receive a wild card to the Shisheido Tahiti Pro. She will then defend her title at the Paris Olympic Games this summer before taking time away.
Carissa Moore holds the gold medal after winning the women’s Olympic surf competition on July 27, 2021. AP file photo
“As Carissa Moore shares her decision of this new chapter, we reflect on her incredible journey and the profound impact she’s had on surfing,” Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Chief of Sport, said. “She is a champion and a role model in and out of the water. Throughout her career, Carissa has exemplified grace, resilience, and competitive excellence. Her achievements have transcended the sport, bringing a new level of athleticism and progression to surfing. Carissa’s dedication to pushing the boundaries has been inspirational, and her absence in the competitive scene will be deeply felt.”
In her post, Moore addressed speculation that her departure was in response to her failure to capture WSL titles the past two seasons.
In 2021, the WSL switched from crowning champions based on season points standings to a format that put the top four in the standings into a one-day playoff for the title. Moore won in 2021 but lost in the WSL Finals each of the last two seasons.
She still finished atop the points standings both seasons.
“There will probably be speculation that I’m leaving the tour because I lost the last two world titles on Finals Day,” Moore wrote. “Running away could be the farthest thing from my truth. Am I frustrated that I wasn’t able to rise to the occasion? Yes. Do I wish there were two more big shiny world title trophies on my mantle? Hell yes. But it didn’t happen that way and I am okay.”
Moore has competed in 120 Championship Tour events since her debut in 2010, claiming 28 event wins throughout her career. When she claimed her first world title at just 18 years old, she became the youngest man or woman to ever do so.
Moore thanked many in her post, including her father, who she surfed her first wave with in Waikiki, her husband, the WSL and her fellow competitors.
“To the women of the tour, you are all shining examples of what it means to be a strong, fearless female in today’s world,” Moore wrote. “I am continually inspired by what you do and how you do it.”
Five-time world champion Carissa Moore, shown competing in the Billabong Pro Pipeline on Feb. 2, 2022, announced Friday that she is stepping away from competitive surfing. World Surf League / Brent Bielmann photo 
Carissa Moore poses with her trophy after claiming her fifth World Surf League title on Sept. 14, 2021. World Surf League / Pat Nolan photo 
Carissa Moore holds the gold medal after winning the women’s Olympic surf competition on July 27, 2021. AP file photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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