The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Australian state of Queensland, approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the state capital Brisbane and immediately north of the border with New South Wales. The Demonym for the Gold Coast is Gold Coaster. With an estimated population of 679,127, at June 2019, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, making it the largest non-capital city, and Queensland's second-largest city.
Surfers Paradise is a coastal suburb of the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Colloquially known as 'Surfers', the suburb has many high-rise apartment buildings and a wide surf beach. The feature of the heart of the suburb is Cavill Mall, which runs through the shopping and entertainment precinct. Cavill Avenue, named after Jim Cavill, an early hotel owner, is one of the busiest shopping strips in Queensland, and the centre of activity for night life. One of the features of the area is the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids designed to build goodwill with tourists.
Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, author, actor, model, businessman, and innovator, best known for his unprecedented 11 world surfing championships. He is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time.
Broadbeach is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. At the 2016 Census, Broadbeach had a population of 5,514.
Burleigh Heads is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional Surfing founded by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick in 1976. IPS created the first world circuit of pro surfing events. In 1983 the Association of Surfing Pros took over management of the world circuit. In 2013, the ASP was acquired by ZoSea, backed by Paul Speaker, Terry Hardy, and Dirk Ziff. At the start of the 2015 season, the ASP changed its name to the World Surf League (WSL). Sophie Goldschmidt was appointed as WSL CEO on July 19, 2017. Paul Speaker had stepped down as CEO on January 11, 2017, and Dirk Ziff acted as the interim WSL CEO until Goldschmidt's appointment.
Michael Eugene Fanning, nicknamed "White Lightning" is a former Australian professional surfer. Fanning won the 2007, 2009 and 2013 ASP World Tour. In 2015 he survived a shark attack with what is suspected to be a great white shark during the J-Bay Open finals in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.
Joel Parkinson is an Australian surfer who used to compete on the WSL. After twelve years competing at the elite level on the ASP World Championship Tour, a stretch that saw him win eleven elite ASP World Title Events, plus nine additional ASP tour events, and achieve runner-up second place to the ASP World Title four times, Parkinson won the ASP World Championship Tour Surfing Title on 14 December 2012 in Hawaii at the Banzai Pipeline during the ASP World Tours' final event for 2012–the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Parkinson hung on in a back and forth battle with eleven-time ASP World Title holder, Kelly Slater, to get his first World Title, as well as go on to win the Pipeline Masters, only after Slater lost his semi-final heat to Josh Kerr, of Queensland, Australia. Parkinson beat Kerr in the finals of the event, which was his seventh top-five placing for the year, and his first event title win for 2012.
Stephanie Louise Gilmore is an Australian professional surfer and seven-time world champion on the Women's ASP World Tour. She was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia on 29 January 1988 and currently resides in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia.
The Quiksilver Pro France is an event on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour. The event is held every year at Seignosse, Capbreton and Hossegor in France at the end of September and in the beginning of October.
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast is an event on the World Surf League. The event is held every year at Coolangatta in Queensland, Australia.
Sally Fitzgibbons is an Australian professional surfer on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour (2009–2013). In June 2019, she was ranked No. 1 in women's surfing after winning the 2019 Rio Pro.
Australia is renowned as one of the world's premier surfing destinations. Surfing underpins an important part of the Australian coastal fabric. It forms part of a lifestyle in which millions participate and which millions more have an interest. Australian surfboard-makers have driven innovation in surfboard design and production since the mid-1960s. The country has launched corporate giants such as Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver.
Owen Wright is an Australian professional surfer on the World Surf League Men's Championship Tour. His sister, Tyler Wright, is also a competitor on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour.
Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer, also the 2014 and 2018 WSL World Champion. Medina joined the world's elite of the World Surf League Tour in 2011, and in his rookie year he finished within the top 12 of the ASP World Tour at the age of 17. In March 2014 he won the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Media sources credit him as being the second person to have executed a maneuver called the "Backflip". Medina also became the first person ever to land this move in competition.
Malia Manuel is a current female professional surfer from Kauai, Hawaii. She won Rookie of the Year in 2012 and was ranked 5th on the 2014 ASP World Tour. In 2008, at the age of 14 she became the youngest surfer ever to win the U.S. Open of Surfing.
The World Surfing Championship at the ISA World Surfing Games is organized by the world governing body for surfing sport, the International Surfing Association (ISA), which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Matthew Formston is a legally blind Australian Professional Para Surfer and former professional Para Cyclist. Formston won gold and silver medals at the 2014 and 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships and represented Australia with pilot Nick Yallouris, at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Formston also holds three consecutive world titles for Surfing at the ISA Para Surfing World Championships as the 2016 to 2019 Australian Champion, 2018 and 2019 US Adaptive Open (Gold) and 2017, 2018, 2019 Dukes Ocean Fest Hawaii Gold medalist.
Caitlin Ryan is a New Zealand canoeist.
The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2019 was the first event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place at Coolangatta in Gold Coast, Queensland, and was contested by 36 surfers.
