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Kelly Slater's re-entry into the World Surf League this week may have rivaled the Artemis spacecraft's return back in April.
The 54-year-old Cocoa Beach native made a huge splash as a wildcard in the Outerknown Tahiti Pro, scoring a near-perfect 9.00 ride in his opening heat and then added spectacular 9.73 and 9.33 scores two days later while tucked inside the familiar triple-overhead, Windex-blue tube rides at Teahupo'o, known simply as "The End of the Road."
It brought back memories of his 56 career victories, 11 world championships and his five titles at the French Polynesian venue.
"It's sort of like riding a bike, but you forget how gnarly Teahupo'o is," Slater said after Saturday's first victory, his first appearance on the WSL in a year since recovering from hip surgery.
"You've got to just jump back on the horse out here. I won't say I started out slow, but I definitely built. Each wave was kind of bigger and better until I maxed out on that 9."
It was Slater's 46th 9.0-plus ride in Tahiti, adding to his remarkable career total (John John Florence has 38). Slater also has an incredible 76% heat win percentage in Tahiti.
“I’m just trying to match my age with 9-point rides,” Slater said, jokingly, collecting his 47th and 48th 9-plus scores just 48 hours later.
In that opener, Slater cruised to a 16.23-4.53 victory against Hawaii's Eli Hanneman, 23, who survived two fierce wipeouts inside the 20-foot peaks.
Monday, Slater out-slugged three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil in a battle of surfing heavyweights, winning 19.06-16.10 in a legendary, crowd-pleasing performance.
"Obviously, you see the comments, a lot of people doubting me or saying they should've given the wildcard to a local, and I get why people say that," Slater said. "(But) without pressure, you've got no diamonds. It fired me up, and even after all this time, yeah, I have something to prove. I need to go out and show it went to the right guy."
Waves were enormously challenging on Day 3 of the event, sending Slater to three wipeouts in his first four rides, but they were sandwiched around a 7.00 score, built from a quick exit up top from a short barrel ride.
Then, with 20 minutes to go, and after his surfboard had shattered and his leash had snapped, Slater emerged from a long tube ride on his replacement board, letting go of the rails (sides of the board) as he shot out with his arms out from his sides for a contest-high 9.73 ride.
Slater wasn't done yet, saluting the crowd with about 5 minutes left after a 9.33 tube ride that looked practically effortless to many of the onlookers.
It actually put the Brazilian in a rare combo position (meaning he would need two scores to total 16.73), and he never quite recovered, although, in the end, needed a 9.08 ride before time ran out.
"Part of me was thinking he'd come back, and part of me was thinking it would be super cool if he did, because it would make the heat such a good story," Slater said. "But I settled back out there and went, 'Let's think about putting him in a combo situation. Let's maximize what's out here as opposed to just surfing a smart heat.'
"I don't know if I'll ever have another heat with him ... it was fun, a lot of fun."
The last time the superstars had met in Tahiti, in 2014, the victory went to Medina, who came in with an 8-2 edge against his rival (four wins in a row) and remains among the leaders in the 2026 men's rankings.
Slater's most recent contest win came at Hawaii’s Pipeline in 2022.
Round 3 was at least a day away, and when the men's side of the bracket resumes, Slater was to face defending contest champion Jack Robinson of Australia, who has won twice in Tahiti.
Slater missed the mid-season cut in 2023, but the WSL gave him a wildcard to finish out the season. He received another season wildcard on the 2024 tour, but failed to make the cut again.
The WSL then granted him wildcards for Tahiti (where he placed fifth) and Fiji in 2024. Then, in 2025, the WSL gave him event wildcards for Trestles and Pipeline, where he also finished fifth.
The Tahiti Pro is sponsored by Outerknown, the clothing company Slater co-founded 11 years ago.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Kelly Slater show why he's the GOAT at the Outerknown Tahiti Pro
Continue reading...
The 54-year-old Cocoa Beach native made a huge splash as a wildcard in the Outerknown Tahiti Pro, scoring a near-perfect 9.00 ride in his opening heat and then added spectacular 9.73 and 9.33 scores two days later while tucked inside the familiar triple-overhead, Windex-blue tube rides at Teahupo'o, known simply as "The End of the Road."
It brought back memories of his 56 career victories, 11 world championships and his five titles at the French Polynesian venue.
"It's sort of like riding a bike, but you forget how gnarly Teahupo'o is," Slater said after Saturday's first victory, his first appearance on the WSL in a year since recovering from hip surgery.
"You've got to just jump back on the horse out here. I won't say I started out slow, but I definitely built. Each wave was kind of bigger and better until I maxed out on that 9."
It was Slater's 46th 9.0-plus ride in Tahiti, adding to his remarkable career total (John John Florence has 38). Slater also has an incredible 76% heat win percentage in Tahiti.
“I’m just trying to match my age with 9-point rides,” Slater said, jokingly, collecting his 47th and 48th 9-plus scores just 48 hours later.
In that opener, Slater cruised to a 16.23-4.53 victory against Hawaii's Eli Hanneman, 23, who survived two fierce wipeouts inside the 20-foot peaks.
Monday, Slater out-slugged three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil in a battle of surfing heavyweights, winning 19.06-16.10 in a legendary, crowd-pleasing performance.
"Obviously, you see the comments, a lot of people doubting me or saying they should've given the wildcard to a local, and I get why people say that," Slater said. "(But) without pressure, you've got no diamonds. It fired me up, and even after all this time, yeah, I have something to prove. I need to go out and show it went to the right guy."
Waves were enormously challenging on Day 3 of the event, sending Slater to three wipeouts in his first four rides, but they were sandwiched around a 7.00 score, built from a quick exit up top from a short barrel ride.
Then, with 20 minutes to go, and after his surfboard had shattered and his leash had snapped, Slater emerged from a long tube ride on his replacement board, letting go of the rails (sides of the board) as he shot out with his arms out from his sides for a contest-high 9.73 ride.
Slater wasn't done yet, saluting the crowd with about 5 minutes left after a 9.33 tube ride that looked practically effortless to many of the onlookers.
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It actually put the Brazilian in a rare combo position (meaning he would need two scores to total 16.73), and he never quite recovered, although, in the end, needed a 9.08 ride before time ran out.
"Part of me was thinking he'd come back, and part of me was thinking it would be super cool if he did, because it would make the heat such a good story," Slater said. "But I settled back out there and went, 'Let's think about putting him in a combo situation. Let's maximize what's out here as opposed to just surfing a smart heat.'
"I don't know if I'll ever have another heat with him ... it was fun, a lot of fun."
The last time the superstars had met in Tahiti, in 2014, the victory went to Medina, who came in with an 8-2 edge against his rival (four wins in a row) and remains among the leaders in the 2026 men's rankings.
Slater's most recent contest win came at Hawaii’s Pipeline in 2022.
Round 3 was at least a day away, and when the men's side of the bracket resumes, Slater was to face defending contest champion Jack Robinson of Australia, who has won twice in Tahiti.
Slater missed the mid-season cut in 2023, but the WSL gave him a wildcard to finish out the season. He received another season wildcard on the 2024 tour, but failed to make the cut again.
The WSL then granted him wildcards for Tahiti (where he placed fifth) and Fiji in 2024. Then, in 2025, the WSL gave him event wildcards for Trestles and Pipeline, where he also finished fifth.
The Tahiti Pro is sponsored by Outerknown, the clothing company Slater co-founded 11 years ago.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Kelly Slater show why he's the GOAT at the Outerknown Tahiti Pro
Continue reading...
