The Tweed Coast’s own Stephanie Gilmore has gone from Kingy Kid to the Surfing Hall of Fame in less than a decade.
The 25-year-old last night became one of the youngest members of the prestigious Australian Surfing Hall of Fame at a ceremony as part of the 2013 Australian Surfing awards at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney.
The awards also marked the 50th anniversary of the formation of Surfing Australia.
It was a continuation of the meteoric rise to fame of the former Kingscliff High student who has gone on to win five world championships in just six years.
Stephanie last night became the 35th member of the Hall of Fame, which was first instituted in 1985 – three years before the young surfer was born.
No competitor in the history of professional surfing has made such a dramatic debut as Stephanie did in 2007.
Just a year after finishing at Kingscliff High School, the then 19-year-old went on to win four of the eight events to take the World Title in her first year on Tour – a feat unprecedented in the sport.
After her debut World Title triumph, she retained the crown for the next three years. Sadly, it was not another competitor that would stop her in her tracks, but a brutal assault at her home at Tweed Heads just prior to the start of the 2011 season.
Stephanie relinquished the crown that year to Hawaiian Carissa Moore but it fuelled a competitive fire inside and she emerged in 2012 with a fierce determination and swept back to the top in a blistering year to claim her fifth World Title.
Considered a marvellous ambassador for Australian surfing on the world stage, Stephanie continues to win international accolades, including the 2010 Laureus Action Sports Person of the Year Award and the 2011 ESPN ESPY Female Action Sports Person of the Year.
“This is such an honour,” Stephanie, 25, said.
“Everyone in the Hall of Fame has had such an incredible impact on the world of surfing and to be included in that is unreal.
“I always feel like these awards are premature for myself, because I’m nowhere near retiring but it is very flattering and I love that my achievements in surfing are being recognised on a larger scale.”
