Carissa Moore, who won gold in surfing’s Olympic debut in 2021, is expected to return to World Surf League competition later this fall, then use a wild card for the 2026 Championship Tour season after taking a break following the 2024 Olympics to have her first child.
“To put my jersey back on after having a baby feels like such a win,” Moore said in a press release. “Competing at the highest level of surfing is something I don’t take for granted, and I’m so grateful to be feeling healthy and reinvigorated. I want my journey to show my daughter, and hopefully other women, that we can do anything; we can keep chasing our dreams, even as life evolves. I’m looking forward to sharing this next chapter with her and experiencing it together as a family.”
Moore, a 33-year-old Hawaiian, announced in January 2024 that she planned to take an indefinite break from competition after the Paris Games, hoping to have a child.
Moore was two months pregnant when she was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympic competition, which was held off Tahiti.
She had daughter ‘Olena Lililehua Untermann on Feb. 24.
Moore is currently entered in qualifying series events in Hawaii — the HTA HIC Haleiwa Pro from Nov. 29-Dec. 7 and the Florence Pipe Pro from Dec. 10-20.
Her first Championship Tour competition back will be in April at Bells Beach, Australia. She was awarded a season wild card place for what the WSL calls the 50th year of professional surfing.
Moore is a five-time world champion on tour, winning her most recent title in 2021 at Lower Trestles, California, which is the 2028 Olympic surfing venue.
The most successful mom in surfing history is Lisa Andersen, who had daughter Erica in 1993, then won world titles in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997.
The LA Games open July 14, 2028, with non-medal competition starting July 12.
