Carissa Moore will retire from professional surfing after attempting to win a second Olympic gold medal this summer, with plans to establish a family that have been in the works for more than a year.
“The last few years, it’s been tougher to find the motivation to continue competing with the same passion,” Moore wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, the successes are transitory, as are the feelings associated with them. I’m not going to keep doing it for an empty victory; there has to be more to it. How many additional titles do I actually need? Being at the top of my game, the external expectation is to keep progressing, but my heart tells me it’s time to change.”
Moore’s agency announced on Friday that she will compete in fewer events this season, beginning with the inaugural World Surf League contest at Banzai Pipeline in her home state of Hawaii in late January and early February.
Moore will then compete in the Olympic surfing tournament in Tahiti, which will also host a World Surf League match in May.
Moore is open to returning to competitive surfing as a mother in the future, as well as bidding for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Moore has already qualified for the Paris Games through her 2023 WSL results. She finished second in the season rankings, trailing countrywoman Caroline Marks.
They are joined on the U.S. Olympic team by Caity Simmers, who finished fourth in the WSL standings.
Moore has won five world championships, the first being in 2011, when she was 19 years old. Surfing had its Olympic debut in Tokyo.
