Date of birth | 27 August 1992 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Oahu, Hawaii |
Age | 33 |
Nationality |  United States |
Career start | 2004 |
Disciplines | Surfing Competition |
Carissa Moore has been shaping the surfing scene for years. The five-time world champion took gold at surfing’s first-ever Olympic appearance and is determined to defend her title in Paris. After that, she wants to step back from competitive surfing, the 31-year-old announced in January 2024.
During her surfing career, she's been named an Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic, a Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine and Top Female Surfer in the SURFER magazine poll numerous times. She was inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame at just 21 years of age, and the State of Hawaii declared January 4 to be Carissa Moore Day.
She's also put out impressive media appearances, including countless web edits and segments, and she starred in a documentary, Riss, that focused on body image issues.
Carissa discovered her love for surfing when she was five years old, when she was surfing with her dad off the beaches of Waikiki in her native Honolulu, Hawaii. “He loves the ocean, and he wanted to share that passion with me,” Carissa says. “By the time I was 12, we had a more serious conversation, saying, ‘Is this something I really want to do?’ I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, but I also knew it would be really fun.”
Carissa Moore started collecting wins at NSSA junior surf competitions and top spots at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, where she helped Hawaii win a team victory. In all, she clinched a record 11 NSSA amateur titles, and at age 16 in 2008, she became the youngest champion at a Triple Crown of Surfing event when she won the Reef Hawaiian Pro.
In 2010, Carissa qualified for her first season on the ASP World Tour, now called the World Surf League. She won two major contests in that debut season, finished third overall, and was named Rookie of the Year. Not bad for a 17-year-old newbie.
The following season, Carissa was the youngster to watch on the World Tour. She lived up to her reputation, winning three events and claiming her first World crown. At 18, she became the youngest person – male or female – to win a surfing world title.
Never one to turn down a challenge, that year Carissa also became the first woman to compete in Oahu’s Triple Crown of Surfing, typically an all-male event featuring the world’s best surfers.
Carissa retook top World Tour honours in 2013 and 2015. Then, after three quick titles within five years, finishing on the top step of the podium in both 2016 and 2017 required a certain mental adjustment, but she sees it as part of the journey.
“I’m definitely performance-driven, so I’m always wanting to improve. Every year I’m learning lessons, transforming as a person and as an athlete,” Carissa says. Returning to her best form impressively in 2019, Carissa surfed to victory at Jeffreys Bay and Hossegor on her way to a memorable fourth World Surf League title after a four-year gap.
The global situation in 2020 brought an enforced hiatus, but as soon as competition returned, Carissa was back to winning ways. She took victory in Tokyo before moving on to seal her fifth world title at the inaugural Rip Curl WSL Finals at Trestles.
In 2023, Carissa placed second in the 2023 World Surf League Championship Tour, which qualified her to compete in the 2024 Paris Games.