According to reports by Australian media, four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore was assaulted by a man armed with a metal pole outside of her Tweed Heads apartment around 9:30 PM last night.
According to reports, she sustained several injuries, including a broken wrist and lacerations to the back of her head and hands.
Her attacker, whose identity has not been revealed, allegedly struck her twice with the metal pole and fled the scene on a bicycle. Reports allege that he later returned to the apartment complex where concerned friends and neighbors placed him under citizen’s arrest until local authorities arrived at the scene to detain the man.
Gilmore’s attacker was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm along with several other offenses. Police report that he was later denied bail by Tweed Heads Magistrates Court.
Gilmore told reporters that the injuries would keep her out of the water for six weeks, but she planned to surf at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, which commences the 2011 ASP Women’s World Tour in February.
“It’s just a little scratch on the head and a fractured wrist,” Gilmore told reporters from the Herald Sun. “I’ll have to work on other things but it won’t hurt my confidence.”
Gilmore is adored by the global surf community, and, after claiming her fourth World Title in as many attempts at the Rip Curl Pro Search Somewhere in Puerto Rico in November, she is on pace to overtake Layne Beachley’s record of seven Women’s World Titles.
