Carissa Moore exits competitive surfing: 'by no means the end'

Carissa Moore announced that her exit from competitive surfing is just around the corner.

The remarkable surfer, who won her first world title at the age of 19 took to her official Instagram account to post about her departure from the field of competitive surfing.

She posted a lengthy note that began with the words, “Surfing is a part of who I am and it always will be.”

“This by no means the end. I’d like to think of this instead as an evolution, the start of the next chapter, a new beginning,” her note further read.

In an interview with the New York Times, on Friday, January 19, 2024, the 31-year-old sportswoman opened up about what turn her life would take “outside the jersey.”

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“All those wins, the competitive part that’s so much of my identity, I’m taking that away, and I’m facing myself this year,” the five-time world champion and first-ever Olympic surfing gold medalist said.

“And that’s scary. Like, who am I? Am I going to be OK? Will I be able to love myself and think that I’m worthy without this?” Moore further said.

"Retirement" is not the word Moore is using to describe her next chapter. "I don’t like the word retirement. I like to say a departure from the tour, or just stepping back, or switching gears, or, like, evolving,” she told the outlet.

However, according to her Instagram note, Moore will be competing in the upcoming The Pipe Pro which will be her “final event on the Championship Tour.”

The World Surf League will commence its championship tour at Banzai Pipeline on January 29, 2024, where, Moore, the reigning champion, will compete in front of close friends and family at the famed spot on Oahu’s North Shore.