Kelly Slater’s long and distinguished career appears to be finally over after the 52-year-old – widely recognized as the greatest professional surfer of all time – missed the mid-season cut of the World Surf League in Margaret River.
A defeat to compatriot Griffin Colapinto in the round of 32 in Western Australia could prove to be Slater’s final act on the tour, ending a career spanning more than three decades at the top.
After being chaired on the beach at Main Break, an emotional Slater fought back tears and said: “Everything must come to an end”, although he indicated he would apply for a one-off wildcard into the WSL event in Fiji later this year.
“If you don’t adapt, you won’t survive,” he said. “My motivation was not entirely to give the 100% that everyone is doing now. I wasn’t really able to pull off a miracle this week, but I’ve pulled off a few over the years.”
The 11-time world champion has been battling a hip injury since 2022 and said physical problems in his later years – including off-season surgery – became increasingly difficult to recover from.
“I’ve been struggling since my operation, fighting the pain and hoping for adrenaline,” he said.
Slater has 56 titles to his name since winning his first in 1992. He became the sport’s youngest world champion that same year at the age of 20 and the oldest in 2011 at the age of 39.
“It’s been an incredible lifetime of memories,” he said. “It’s been so much emotion for so long… It’s not all sunshine and roses, but it’s been the best times of my life. It feels like the end, but it’s the beginning of something else for the rest of my life.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Slater has retired; he ended his career at the age of 26 after winning five straight world titles from 1994 to 1998, before returning to the tour to win another five titles.
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On Tuesday he left the door open for a final performance on the tour in August at Fiji’s Cloudbreak, one of his favorite waves and an event where he had success.
“I had a fight with this wave [at Margaret River] my entire career, so it’s not necessarily the wave I want to end with,” he said.
“I have applied for a wildcard for Fiji and we will see how that goes.”
After accidentally sending him into retirement, Colapinto paid tribute to Slater and noted all he had done for the sport.
“The fact that he was sitting in my seat after a heat, I was quite impressed and trying to take it all in,” said Colapinto, currently world number 1.
“I gave him a high five when he became chairman… he has given so much to me and everyone else on this tour. Like we make a living because of him, he’s developed the sport so far and it’s pretty incredible.”