Steph Gilmore in the Snapper World Champs Heat at the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro on April 27, 2024. Photo: Andrew Shield//World Surf League
Stephanie Gilmore will headline the WSL’s list of wildcards and injury replacements at the 2025 Gold Coast Pro. The league announced her selection Tuesday along with Nadia Erostarbe, Ian Gentil, Jordy Lawler, and Callum Robson rounding out the draw for both the men and women at Burleigh Heads this week.
Gilmore surfed in last year’s World Champ’s heat when the Gold Coast Pro took place at Snapper Rocks, but this week’s event at Burleigh Heads will be her first Championship Tour action since she competed in the Tahiti Pro to close out the 2023 season. In January 2024, Gilmore announced she would be taking a break from the CT as a refresh “physically, mentally, and to enjoy following swells and freesurfing in new places.” Gilmore said at the time that she planned to return to the CT in 2025 but admitted several months later that she wasn’t missing certain aspects of tour life.
“I’ve been missing the actual events, but not all the bits in between,” she told The Inertia in June 2024. “I’ve watched all the webcasts and been jealous of the crew hanging out at the stops. I’ve also missed the competition side of it, but so much time and effort goes into being ready for those events, and I’m not missing that aspect of being totally focused on winning and competing.”
Many surf fans assumed Gilmore was returning to the 2025 tour until she announced in late January that she’d be extending her sabbatical into a second year, saying she’d take more time to heal lingering injuries and continuing the freesurf and travel bender of 2024. With the news on Tuesday, Gilmore acknowledged she’s still enjoying life out of a jersey but welcomes the opportunity to get back to competition this week.
“I’m still a competitor at heart, so I am really looking forward to clicking back into that mindset and testing myself after some time away from competition,” she said. “It’s so close to home as well, so it’s really a no-brainer. I’m definitely not as in tune with Burleigh as I am with Snapper, but it’s still a perfect right point, so I feel like it’s a spot that suits my style. It will be cool to see everyone work out a new wave on Tour, so hopefully, it delivers some of the perfection it’s known for. It will be my first time competing at Burleigh since I was a junior, so I’m looking forward to it.”
