Tyler Wright’s injuries have left her ‘scared to love surfing’ but she’s just made Pipeline history

Daftar Isi

Tyler Wright has claimed her first Championship Tour win since a series of head knocks and balance issues to make surfing history by becoming the first woman to win Hawaii's iconic Pipeline Pro twice.

I couldn't find any Australian language terminology or vocabulary in the original text, so it's already in a language commonly used in Australia (English).

A local surfer from Hawaii, Barron Mamiya, successfully defended his Pipeline title in a gripping finish at the men's competition, winning through a countback after both him and Italian surfer Leo Fioravanti scored an impressive 17.97 out of 20 from their two top waves.

Slapped the water in frustration when his blazing barrel was unfairly awarded a 9.10. The judges' decision allowed Mamiya to keep his lead due to a technicality, being he still held the highest scoring wave, a 9.8, in the final.

G'day mate, Wright's been up against it (choked on) a fair few injuries and illnesses during her career, with 2018 being a particularly rough time, goin' by the look of things, she had a whacking bout of post-viral syndrome that left her stuck in bed for a bit.

She felt like she was being slowly choked all the time.

A surgery to widen Wright's narrow airways involved inserting a maxillary palatal expander into her mouth, an experience she's described as life-changing, given her lifelong issues with breathing.

Suffering from ongoing concussion problems throughout 2024, she was forced to sit out of several events.

"G'day, I spent a fair bit of time throughout the off-season tryin' to get the excitement back a bit," Wright said after beatin' Simmons in a low-scoring decider.

“Last year I must've copped a fair bit of injuries than people were letting on. It's a real treat coming back and having a crackin' off-season with me beautiful missus (Lilli), it's as special as, and this win's the icing on the cake.”

I'm usually a bit nervous about catching waves with surfing 'cause I've had me a few biffs in the past. So, this has been a real pleasure.

Wright said her performance against "the kids" led by 19-year-old Simmers and Aussie surf starlet Molly Picklum, whose finale at pumping Pipeline last year was a ripper of a day for women's surfing.

Picklum headed to Simmers on Sunday (AEDT) in a similar way at the semi-final stage, with the pair once again swapping big scores from their barrel rides before the American got on top thanks to a howling 9.5 ride.

In the men's section,.mountaineer George Pittar from Narabeen was knocked out in the quarter-finals at his first Pipeline comp.

Fifty-three-year-old wild card Kelly Slater wasn't able to ride the barrel like he did when he snagged his 100th win in Pipeline events on the final day, which included nine top-scoring rides from eventual winner Mamiya.