Professional surfing career
2005-2006: Wildcard appearances
While completing her final year of school, Gilmore began competing in world tour events as a wild card competitor, which included a victory at the 2005 Roxy Pro Gold Coast. [14] [12]
In her next season, Gilmore won another event as a wild card, the 2006 Havaianas Beachley Classic, defeating the event's namesake, Layne Beachley in the final, a moment considered to be a 'changing of the guard'. [15] [16] In addition to wild card appearances, Gilmore joined the ASP Qualifying Series, finishing second overall and qualifying for the 2007 ASP World Tour. [12]
2007: Debut season and first world title
Gilmore became ranked world number one for the first time after winning at Bells Beach, reaching the same number of points as 2005 world champion Chelsea Hedges, with her road to victory including her beating 2004 world champion Sofía Mulánovich in the final. [17] The next event took place in Brazil in August, with Gilmore earning the overall lead by finishing in the semifinal. [18] After finishing ninth in the event in Spain, Gilmore dropped to world number four. [18] Gilmore was able to win the next event in Sydney, beating Silvana Lima in the final, becoming world number one again heading into the final events of the season. [19]
Entering the final round in the Billabong Pro Maui, continuing to be ranked world number one; her other world title contenders—Mulánovich and Lima—both lost during round three, meaning Gilmore had won the world title. [18] [4] Gilmore was not expecting to seal the world title as quickly during the event, describing the events that unfolded as "a shock." [4] She became the first rookie, on the women's tour, to win a world title. [13] [4] [20] Gilmore still considers her 2007 world title "very memorable," given that it was both her first title and her debut season. [21]
2008-2010: Undefeated world title streak
In her first competition in the 2008 season, Gilmore finished ninth at Snapper Rocks, although was able to win at Bells Beach for the second consecutive year. [22] [23] Gilmore became the leader in the world title race after a win in Peru for the second consecutive season, beating Beachley and Lima enroute, as Mulánovich was surprisingly eliminated in the quarterfinals. [24] At Sunset Beach, two rounds left in the season, Gilmore, Beachley, Mulánovich and Lima were all still in contention to win the world title, but all had to win the event to prevent Gilmore from winning the title with one event left to spare. [22] The final was contested by Lima and Gilmore, with Gilmore receiving the highest-scoring wave of the four-person final and solidifying the world title for the second consecutive year. [22] [25]
Gilmore began her 2009 season intending to win her home event, Snapper Rocks, which she eventually accomplished, while also being conscious of a new generation of rookies entering the tour, including future championship rival Sally Fitzgibbons. [23] A loss to Lima in the final of Bells Beach, her first loss at the event in her competitive career, Gilmore continued to maintain her world number one standing. [23] In 2009, Gilmore remained number one in the world, leading into Peru. [26] She sealed her third consecutive world title in a row at Sunset Beach, when her world championship rivals lost in previous heats, leaving Gilmore the last woman standing. [27] She finished her season by winning the Billabong Pro Maui, securing a triple crown title for the second consecutive year, beating Mulánovich by eight points in the final. [28] When asked about whether she had anything else left to prove, she replied, "I feel like I've got nothing left to prove really and I'm just working on my own performance in the water." [28] With her performances throughout the 2009 season, Gilmore was awarded the Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year in 2010. [29]
In 2010, Gilmore's road to the road title began with winning at Snapper Rocks for the second consecutive year. [30] In addition, she reclaimed her title at Bell's Beach, beating Fitzgibbons in the semi-final and Mulánovich in the final, although nearly had a premature departure from the competition when she narrowly beat newcomer Tyler Wright in round three. [31] The event in Taranaki, New Zealand, saw Gilmore suffer a surprise loss to New Zealand teenager Sarah Mason in the third round. [32] She also was eliminated in the third round at the US Open of Surfing event in Huntington Beach. [33] Gilmore sealed her fourth consecutive world title when reaching the quarterfinal of the second last event of the season in Puerto Rico, with a 0.10 point victory over Melanie Bartels. [34] [3] When asked about how she felt achieving the accomplishment, she replied, "Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I could win consecutively like this." [34] [3] In the process, she became the first person in the history of the ASP to win four consecutive world titles in her first four seasons on the professional circuit. [3] In celebrating Gilmore's world title, fellow Australian world champion Mick Fanning praised her ability to "keep that focus for so long", declaring his belief that she could win ten world titles if she wanted to. [34] Gilmore would also go on to win in Puerto Rico, beating Carissa Moore in the final. [3] She was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame. [35]
On 27th December 2010, Gilmore was walking home from the movie theatres after a close friend who was originally meant to meet up with her could not make it at the last minute, when she was attacked twice by a homeless man with a metal bar as she approached her apartment, with hits to her head and her arm. [13] [5] She was admitted to the hospital with cuts to the head and a broken wrist that she used to shield herself. [36] [13] Her attacker, who was suffering from schizophrenia and under consumption of alcohol and drugs, was sentenced to four years in jail. [37] Spending weeks away from surfing to recover, Gilmore when reflecting on the period in 2019, stated, "It was the first time in my life that I had such a traumatic experience and such a mountain to climb ahead of me.” [13]
2011: Personal struggles and first championship loss
At the beginning of the year, Gilmore signed a multi-million-dollar brand endorsement and sponsorship deal with Quiksilver. [11] In the lead-up to the 2011 season, her sister and manager, Whitney, banned members of the media from talking to Gilmore, except for pre-arranged interviews, with questions about her attack being off-limits. [11] She briefly discussed the effect that the attack had on her mentally before Bells Beach, citing the uncertainty behind how she would cope with it, "I've never had a trauma in my life like that and I was just as interested as everyone else to see how I was going to deal with it." [11] Her broken wrist made it challenging to surf, with falls off the surfboard exacerbating the pain, which would continue to be an issue over the next two seasons. [37]
At Snapper Rocks, the first event of the season, Gilmore lost in the quarterfinals after only six weeks of preparation, stating she was "behind the pack, behind the eight ball." [11] At Bells Beach, she was eliminated in the semi-finals by Fitzgibbons, with her wrist injury still making it challenging for her to compete. [38] The event in Rio de Janeiro in May, saw Gilmore eliminated from contention for the world title for the first time in her career, with a loss in the semi-finals to world number two, Sally Fitzgibbons, after being required to finish above world number one, Carissa Moore, to stay within reach. [39] Ironically, Gilmore would end Fitzgibbons world title chances in Biarritz, France, by winning the event over the newly-crowned world champion, Moore. [40] Gilmore's mental health continued to suffer, which affected her performance on the tour throughout the season, "I think the hardest part was, because I'd won four world titles back-to-back, I didn't know what losing was like and to lose that winning streak due to something that was out of my control seemed like such a bummer." [5] When reflecting on the season in a 2019 interview, Gilmore stated, “I was questioning my confidence in the ocean. I was questioning just everything.” [13] Gilmore would finish third overall in the year to Moore, who ousted her as the youngest world champion in women's surfing history. [13] [40]
2012-2013: Fifth world title and struggles with fatigue
Gilmore's journey to her fifth world title in 2012 began with a win at Snapper Rocks, with a final against Laura Enever. [41] After the challenges she faced in the previous year, Gilmore said she was "100 per cent more confident, my strength, my whole knowledge, awareness, everything." [41] After a second place to Sally Fitzgibbons at Bells Beach, Gilmore won her second event of the season in Taranaki, defeating defending world champion Carissa Moore in the final by 0.7 points. [42] [43] Gilmore solidified her world title in July with her third event win of the year in Biarritz, France, defeating Tyler Wright in the final, while her only other title contender, Fitzgibbons, was beaten in the quarterfinals, making Gilmore's lead unassailable heading into the final event in Huntington Beach, California. [44] [45] [46] Gilmore has called this world title, in particular, her most "rewarding", describing it as the first time she "had to really persevere through something", and the first world title since her attack in 2010. [13] [5]
After the high of achieving her fifth world title, Gilmore admitted to feeling "uninspired" in 2013, struggling with fatigue in a season that became her worst of her career to date. [47] Additionally, at Bells Beach, Gilmore, suffering from a broken foot sustained before the event, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Wright and faced sudden-death rounds twice along the way. [48] Gilmore reflected on the form of her fellow surfers being "much better" and was already eliminated from the world title race before the event in Hossegor, France. [49] Gilmore would go without an event win for the first time in a season and finished fifth in the world. [47]
2014: An "intense" sixth world title
Gilmore began the 2014 season by winning her first tour event in two years at her hometown event, Snapper Rocks, defeating reigning world champion Moore in the semi-finals and Bianca Buitendag in the final. [50] Her victory was her first event win since winning Biarritz, France in 2012. [50] She described how she found her "confidence" and "self-belief" with a new approach to the tour, taking a more strategic approach in competition. [51] Gilmore would become world number one heading into the next event in Margaret River, making it to the semi-finals after winning her quarterfinal against Courtney Conlogue by 0.2 points, setting up another duel against Moore, who would eliminate Gilmore from the event. [50] [52] [53] Gilmore progressed to the semi-finals at Bells Beach alongside her future world title rivals Fitzgibbons, Moore, and Wright, as the latter would eliminate Gilmore in the semi finals. [54] Rio became Gilmore's worst event of the season, eliminated in the second round by former world title rival Silvana Lima. [55] In Cloudbreak, Fiji, a showdown with Sally Fitzgibbons, their first of three for the season, saw Fitzgibbons narrowly beat Gilmore by 0.27 points, despite Gilmore leading for a majority of the heat. [56] At the end of the event in Fiji, Gilmore would be ranked third in the world, behind Moore and Fitzgibbons. [56]
Gilmore moved up to number two in the world, with a win against Fitzgibbons in Trestles, with Gilmore achieving the event's sole perfect-10 wave against Fitzgibbons in the final, who became world number one after Moore was eliminated before the quarterfinals. [57] Gilmore declared after the event in Trestles that the world title race between herself, Fitzgibbons, Moore and Tyler Wright would "be a really exciting finish," with only two events left in Cascais and Maui. [57] In the next event, Gilmore took over the world number one ranking for the first time since winning Snapper Rocks after winning the Cascais Pro in Portugal, beating Fitzgibbons again in the final, marking their third final matchup of the season. [58] [59]
Considered to be one of the best years of competition on the women's tour that the sport had seen, a season that saw the lead change on multiple occasions, Gilmore expressed her excitement and the "benefit" of having a close title race. [60] The world title came down to the final round in Maui, with only Gilmore, Fitzgibbons and Wright still in contention, guaranteeing an Australian world champion. [60] [59] Gilmore was surprisingly eliminated from the Maui event in the quarterfinals by Courtney Conlogue, meaning her fate would rest in the hands of the performances of Fitzgibbon and Wright. [61] Fitzgibbons would also be beaten in her quarterfinal match only thirty minutes later, solidifying Gilmore as at least world number two, as Wright progressed through to the final against Moore, with Wright requiring an event win to equal Gilmore and force a surf-off for the world title. [61] [62] Wright would go on to lose to Moore, thus making Gilmore the world champion. [61] [62] Gilmore described winning the world title as "the most intense world title race of my career." [60]
2015-2017: Injury-plagued and inconsistency
Gilmore's 2015 world title campaign began with two losses to Moore in the finals at both Snapper Rocks and Bells Beach. [63] Although a hair-line fracture in her knee, sustained during the Margaret River Pro, ruled her out for most of the season. [64] [65] Gilmore revealed that most of 2015 consisted of her watching "from the computer screen" and was "jealous" that she could not go and compete. [66] She briefly returned to the tour, competing at the event in France before withdrawing again, missing the final event in Maui. [67]
A challenger event in Newcastle that took place before the first event of the 2016 season, saw Gilmore lose to Fitzgibbons in the final, revealing her knee had fully healed and she was fit to compete. [68] [66] Beginning the season as the oldest surfer on the tour, Gilmore was eliminated in the quarterfinals of Snapper Rocks by Wright. [69] [70] She would finish the year being knocked out in the fourth round in Maui, in a season that would see her ranked sixth overall. [71] [72]
Gilmore began 2017 by winning her first tour event since 2014 in Snapper Rocks, beating Lakey Peterson in the final by 3.98 points. [64] Her run to the event win included beating Carissa Moore in the quarterfinals and Sally Fitzgibbons in the semi-final. [64] She signalled her intentions before the event began to reclaim the world title, citing confidence in her equipment, improved physical health, and experience chasing world titles. [73] She also discussed the increased difficulty in contending for a world title, with more women in contention than in seasons past, specifically naming Fitzgibbons, Moore, Wright and Courtney Conlogue. [73] She continued her good start to the season, finishing second to Conlogue at Bells Beach; and making it to the semi-finals at Margaret River. [74] [75] Her strong start during the Australian leg of the season unfortunately did not continue for the rest of the season, not finishing above the quarterfinals until the final event of the season in Maui, describing her form after Margaret River as "a hot mess." [76] Gilmore would go on to win the event in Maui, finishing as number two in the world, behind world champion, Wright. [76]
2018: Seventh world title
Gilmore's 2018 season began with an elimination in the quarterfinals by Keely Andrew at Snapper Rocks. [77] Gilmore's first victory of the season came at Bells Beach, her first at the event since 2010, with a close final between her and Tatiana Weston-Webb coming down to the final wave, winning by 0.23. [78] [79] She would become world number one again leading into Margaret River, reaching the quarterfinal, only for the event to be postponed by the World Surf League due to safety concerns. [80] [81] Her second event win of the year came in Rio, beating Lakey Peterson in the final, which was also Gilmore's first win in Brazil and kept her as world number one. [82] Her third and final event win of the year came in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, where she beat Peterson in the final for the second time. [83]
Gilmore would have been able to win her seventh world title during the event in France, only to be eliminated by Conlogue in the third round, thus forcing a final event showdown in Maui against Peterson. [84] Gilmore elaborated that her love of surfing helped her stay relaxed throughout the final event in Maui, particularly when Peterson was surprisingly eliminated in round two, ensuring Gilmore would be world champion. [37] In the process, Gilmore equalled Layne Beachley's record of seven world-title victories, with Gilmore immediately praising Beachley as an "inspiration" and "setting the standard" for women in surfing. [12] [37] [20]
Throughout the season, the World Surf League announced that beginning in the 2019 season, female surfers would be awarded equal amounts of prize money to their male counterparts. Gilmore stated that the decision was "a huge step forward and win for females and society in general." [85] Gilmore also said she was "honoured" to see the change occur within her career and hoped that the change will "affect will be far beyond sport." [85]
2019-2021: COVID-19 break and Olympics
Gilmore's first events of the season at Snapper Rocks and Bells Beach saw quarterfinal exits from both competitions. [86] After a victory in Bali, which included a 10-point wave in the competition, Gilmore's hot-and-cold season continued with a loss in the quarterfinals in Margaret River. [87] Her coach, Jake Patterson described Gilmore as being "worn out and flat" and Gilmore being her own "biggest critic," with an injury sustained throughout the season shifting her focus from winning the world title to "cruising the year out." [8] Gilmore finished her season with a win at the Maui Pro over Wright in the final. [88] She would finish fourth in the world, with her results throughout the season were enough for Gilmore to earn Australia's quota position for the 2020 Summer Olympics, the sports debut in the Olympic Games. [88] [89] With the COVID-19 outbreak occurring, the 2020 season was eventually cancelled, with the Olympic Games postponed to the next year. [90] [91] Gilmore would not be scheduled to compete again on the tour until December 2020. [90]
Returning from the COVID-19 hiatus in 2021, the season became what Gilmore dubbed a "heartbreaking year," with her goals of winning her eighth world title and a historic Olympic gold medal not accomplished. [92] Gilmore's first of two finals of the season was a loss at Margaret River, with the rest of the season summed up by Gilmore saying, "I didn't perform to my ability." [92] At the Olympics, she received a bye in round two, only to be beaten by Bianca Buitendag in round three in a surprise loss, with Gilmore making a crucial error as Buitendag took the highest-scoring wave of the round under Gilmore's priority. [93] Despite feeling heartbroken about her exit from the competition, she was still pleased to say, "I still get to call myself an Olympian, which is pretty rad." [93] Gilmore managed to win the final event of the regular season in Mexico, her first event win since 2019, before the newly installed WSL final, entering the final event of the season ranked fourth in the world. [94] She would lose in the first round of the WSL finals, with the world title being won by Moore. [92]
2022: A season of challenges and an eighth world title
Gilmore missed the first event of the season, Pipeline, after testing positive for COVID-19 and was required to isolate under event protocols. [95] [96] Her only win of the regular season came at El Salvador, which became her 33rd win on the WSL tour, defeating Lakey Peterson in the final. [2] With eleven minutes left of the final, Gilmore's total score was 1.03 points, only to grab two waves worth 7.33 and 5.67 points to take the lead with less than a few minutes left of the heat. [2] The victory moved her to world number three temporarily, only to drop to world number five at the end of the regular season, barely qualifying for the finals event in Trestles. [2] [16]
At the final event in Trestles, under the finals system, Gilmore competed as the fifth seed and was considered an underdog to win the title as she would have to win every heat in order to be world champion. [16] Gilmore won all the heats in the competition, beginning with narrow victories over world number four Brisa Hennessy and number three Tatiana Weston-Webb. [1] She would defeat second seed Johanne Defay by a gap over six points, with her final match up being between world number one and long-time competitive rival Moore. [16] [1] The final with Moore, being a best-of-3 format, Gilmore won both of the first two heats and guaranteed herself the world title without requiring a third heat, winning each of her heats by a gap of four points. [95] Gilmore felt she had an advantage surfing as the fifth seed, participating in every heat of the day, noticing that Defay and Moore who were watching from the sidelines looked increasingly nervous the longer the event went on and were not given opportunities to practice in the competition waves before their heats took place. [21]
Despite the success, Gilmore disliked the finals format, believing that "the world champ should be crowned in all the different waves over the entire period of the year." [16] She discussed the "guilt" she felt taking the world title away from Moore, describing that with surfing coming down to one event you "could have a bad day", and "Carissa just wasn't on that day." [97] Despite this, she had a brief change of heart after winning her world title and later admitted she enjoyed the "grand final" moment and seeing it as "a phenomenal performance that I should be very proud of." [16] [97] [98]
2023-2025: Missing WSL finals and competition hiatus
Beginning the season as the reigning world champion, Gilmore stated her goals in 2023 were to improve at Tahiti and Pipeline specifically, as being waves that "scare the heck out of me." [97] Her first event of the season finished with a round two exit, losing to Caitlin Simmers and Alyssa Spencer in Pipeline, describing it as having "gone from hero to zero." [99] [100] She continued to struggle finding form, surviving the mid-season cut in Margaret River, when she reached the round of 16. [101] She was eliminated in the quarterfinals at Jeffreys Bay by Molly Picklum, although had made her way to world number six before the final regular season event in Tahiti. [102] She was unable to qualify for the WSL finals or defend her world title, finishing in sixth overall, as Tahiti became her final event before going on a hiatus from competition. [103]
Originally, Gilmore announced a year-long sabbatical from the tour, that eventually became two-years, announcing in January 2025 that she would also skip the 2025 WSL Tour after speculation that she was planned to appear for the first stop in Hawai'i. [104] She stated that injuries that had been sustained throughout her competitive career were not completely healed and would instead focus on travelling and sponsor appearances. [104] During Gilmore's hiatus, she continued to be involved in the surfing community. [6] One of these endeavours included signing a multi-million-dollar contract in 2024 to be sponsored by Rip Curl for the next eight years. [6] [104] The decision to take a hiatus from the sport also meant that Gilmore would not contend for a spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics. [105]
Gilmore briefly returned as a wild card for the 2025 Gold Coast Pro, in a run that included knocking out reigning world champion Caitlin Simmers, before losing in the quarterfinals to Erin Brooks. [103] [106] Brooks, was notably only five months old when Gilmore won her first world title in 2007, a fact that Gilmore embraced, comparing the situation to Kelly Slater's on the men's tour. [106] She expressed that she was not considering retirement and was enjoying different pursuits within the sport, while her expectations on performing at competition level had changed with the development of women's surfing as her focus became about "going to enjoy the journey." [103] She also stated her relief in being able to spend more time at home and see her family and friends during her hiatus, while wanting to be able to "travel and surf". [103] Although when asked about a potential return to competitive surfing, she was open to a return to the schedule full-time, stating, "I think it's more about your personal drive and motivation, If I still want it, then I think I can still apply myself and chase after it." [106]
2026: Return to competitive surfing
On November 19th, 2025, Gilmore announced that she would return to the world tour after a two-year hiatus, being awarded one of two seasonal wildcards alongside fellow world champion Carissa Moore. [107] [6] Gilmore expressed being "excited" to re-enter the challenges of the world tour and feel the "energy" of competition again. [6]
Public image
Endorsements and appearances
Gilmore remains one of the most highly sought-after athletes in Australian sport and around the world, with her positive, friendly nature, along with her long blonde hair and smile, with Vogue Australia dubbing her "the picture-perfect surfer girl." [9] She is currently endorsed and sponsored by Rip Curl, signing a multimillion-dollar contract with the company in 2024, in what was reportedly one of the most expensive contracts for an Australian surfer in the sports history. [116] [6] One of the ventures she began with Rip Curl involved designing a beach-wear line for the company, a moment she said was an unexpected venture considering her lack of interest in fashion when beginning her career, stating, “I look back at photos of me when I was a kid and they’re pretty embarrassing. I had terrible style." [116] She was previously sponsored by Quiksilver through its female-focused line, Roxy, from 2012 to 2024. [9] In 2015, she was named Australia's highest-paid female athlete due to her endorsements with Quiksilver, Nikon, Weet-Bix and Ford. [117] [7] In 2022, she was ranked eighth highest-earning Australian female athlete, courtesy of her endorsement deals, as well as her 2022 world title victory which alone earnt her $150,000. [118] Outside of surfing, Gilmore currently has endorsements with Audi, TechnologyOne, YETI and Breitling. [9] [119] [120] She also appeared as a guest at the Met Gala in 2015 while she was recovering from her knee injury. [69]
In addition to endorsements, Gilmore has also featured in documentaries regarding her surfing career. She was notably selected as one of the featured athletes for the World Surf League's docuseries Make or Break on Apple TV. [97] She also starred in a feature-length documentary titled Stephanie in the Water, released in 2014, which detailed her life behind the scenes on the world tour, directed by Ava Warbrick. [121] [122] [123] During her hiatus from competition, Gilmore, in conjunction with her sponsor Rip Curl, joined Rip Curl's The Search alongside Tom Curren, Mason Ho and Mick Fanning. [124]
Activism
Gilmore is known to be an advocate for women's rights in professional sport, particularly in surfing. When a discussion about labelling and sexualising women in sport after being involved in a controversial advertising campaign for the Roxy Pro in France, Gilmore noted how physical appearances should not take away from highlighting women in sport, saying in 2014, "When girls embrace their femininity and sexuality, it's not taking away from their power and athleticism at all; they're combining the two sides, and that's a very powerful combination for a girl to have." [123] When comparing to women's surfing from the 1970s to the present day, Gilmore credits the "perseverance" of the women from her previous generation through the "tough period" of women's surfing equality, and credits them for inspiring her and her fellow surfers to push the sport forward "through our actions, through our own personal goals, and our own personal missions." [21]
Gilmore played a major role in encouraging the World Surf League to provide equal treatment to male and female athletes, including equal prize money and equal priority in surf conditions. [116] [5] When comparing the difference in treatment between male and female surfers throughout her years on tour, citing how her fellow female surfers were often forced to compete in "conditions that weren't so great," noticing that once the women's tour was given opportunities to compete with better waves, "that has completely accelerated the event." [116] Gilmore was notably critical after the 2013 season, criticising the wave conditions chosen for some of the women's events throughout the year, stating, "My most favourite events are, of course when the waves are good, but also when you're treated like a professional athlete." [47] When discussing her previous experiences in unequal encounters with event organisers, "For probably about 80 percent of my career, it was very much, 'The waves are firing. The men are on'." [5] Gilmore acknowledged the positive change of the rebranding from the ASP to the World Surf League, which gave the women's tour more balance and focus than it had under the old system and previous owners. [5] [125] In 2018, Gilmore, along with Kelly Slater, wrote a letter supporting the World Surf League's equal pay policy when the announcement for equal pay was made. [9] She elaborated on her hope that other sports and occupations around the world would follow surfing's lead in ensuring equality, saying, "The prize money is fantastic, but the message means even more." [126] [125]
Legacy
Gilmore is considered one of the greatest surfers of all time, with eight world titles and the most event wins of any surfer on the women's tour. [16] Her 2007 world title victory remains the most recent season in history to be won by a surfer in their debut season. [127] Despite the accolades and praise, Gilmore still finds it difficult to believe the praise, with her coach Jake Patterson adding, "My biggest battle is to convince her that she is the best and to believe in it". [8] Fellow surfers such as Layne Beachley, Carissa Moore and Tom Carroll dub Gilmore as being the 'greatest of all time.' [128] [96] [129] Beachley, particularly describing Gilmore as being "a tremendous role model" and "ambassador" for surfing, describing her surfing style and technique as "graceful" and "effortless". [37] Fellow Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons, considers Gilmore the most "inspirational" surfer of her generation, citing her technical prowess, variety in manoeuvres and her intelligence in the line-up during competition; crediting her as having "bridged the performance gap between the men and women." [113] Joel Parkinson dubbed Gilmore as "probably the greatest Australian surfer of all time." [130] Gilmore has also been a role model to many surfers throughout the sport, including Molly Picklum, who named her as "the absolute queen of surfing", and Filipe Toledo, who chose to honour Gilmore by wearing her name on the back of his jersey at the Portugal event in 2023, coinciding with International Women's Day. [131] [132] [133]
