Stephanie Gilmore wins Roxy Pro France and Carissa Moore is ASP World Champion | Contest

Stephanie Gilmore claims her first event of the year, Carissa Moore her maiden world Title

BIARRITZ, France (Friday, July 15, 2011) – Stephanie Gilmore (Gold Coast, AUS), 23, won the Roxy Pro in Biarritz, the former four-time ASP World Champion clinching her first victory of the season ahead of freshly crowned 2011 ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore (Oahu, HAW), 18, in good quality three-foot (one meter) waves and finding the only clean barrel of the event en route to victory.

With no pressure and having enjoyed the week of action where she posted three of the event’s top-five wave scores, Gilmore managed to take the final’s lead after a series of waves, the charismatic champion adding a 19th event win to her brilliant career with a solid 17.27 point heat result, the event’s third highest one.

“Today was unbelievable because so much has gone down,” Roxy Pro winner Gilmore said. “In my perfect world somebody would be crowned world champ and I would take the win and that is what I dreamt about. It feels so good. I missed it so much this year. I am so happy right now.”

Gilmore, who was ousted from the ASP Women’s World title race after event No. 5 in Brazil, came to Biarritz relaxed, bringing her stylish forehand attack, on-the-rail cutback and vertical top-turn lethal weapons to make her way through to the final and win the event, a win with a special taste ahead of wunderkid and favorite Moore.

Following her ASP Women’s world champion crowning, Carissa Moore (Oahu, HAW), 18, led the battle for fifteen minutes netting an 8.00 point score on her third wave thanks to her custom-made upside-down turns and 360° reverses. Showing great consistency and mental strenght during the nerve-racking world title showdown all week, Moore came short of only 1.77 points finishing her Biarritz run as runner-up.

“It’s been a great event and I was just smiling during the whole final,” an ecstatic Moore said. “It’s probably the heat I’ve spoken in most in my career and we were just enjoying our time out there with Stephanie. The waves were fun and I am just super stoked to be here in Biarritz.”

Surfing a sixth final in six events, a premiere in the ASP history, youngest ever ASP Women’s World champion Moore adds another record to her already outstanding young career and will be celebrating the first world title for a Hawaiian in 30 years, since Margo Oberg’s crowning in 1981.

All Roxy Pro news, results and videos are available on www.roxylive.com/

ROXY PRO FINAL
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 17.27
2 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.50

ROXY PRO SEMIFINALS
SF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.27 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 9.67
SF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.30 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)

Photos credit : Roxy / ASP