Stephanie Gilmore – Women’s Health Australia – January 2020 Issue
The 31-year-old won the first of her seven World Titles during her 2007 rookie season (the first surfer, male or female, to do so) and made history when she claimed number seven in 2018. She now matches Aussie icon Layne Beachley for the most women’s World Titles ever. (“I smile a lot already, but [my grin] would’ve split in half if I’d smiled any more,” she recalls of that seventh win, which was enthusiastically celebrated with “a tour of dancing and drinking and having a good time!”)
At the time of our photoshoot (BTS highlights: Steph dancing to disco tunes and fielding 1001 surfing questions from our photographer), she’s also looking ahead to the small matter of Tokyo 2020 – the first time surfing will be included at the Olympics. “It’s a huge opportunity for our sport, and it’s great to think that there’ll be a whole new audience of people who have never seen surfing before, and maybe they’ll become fans and want to watch it in the non-Olympic years as well,” says Steph. “We’ve had so many inspiring athletes and Olympic gold medallists come out of Australia – Cathy Freeman, Stephanie Rice, Ian Thorpe – who have inspired me like crazy. So to finally have that opportunity in my career is really special.”
