Carissa Kainani Moore (born August 27, 1992) is a Hawaiian

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Olympian, world champion surfer and activist. She was the first-ever winner of the Olympic Gold Medal in women's short board surfing in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. She was also the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

World Surf League WSL Women's World Tour Champion. Moore is the first surfer in history to win a WSL world title and the Olympic title in the same year. In 2013, she was named by '' Glamour'' magazine as one of their Women of the Year. She became a member of the Surfers' Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2022, Moore was featured in Naomi Hirahara's anthology ''We Are Here: 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States'' that was published by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and Running Press Kids.

Early life

When she was five years old, Moore started surfing with her dad off the beaches of

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

.Goyanes, Cristina (November 7, 2011)
"Fast waves, faster girl"
''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

''. Retrieved July 12, 2021. "Dad taught me how to surf when I was about four or five years old at Waikiki Beach and I was immediately hooked." Her father, Chris, was a competitive open water

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who won a number of competitions. He lived closer to the water than Moore's landlocked mother, so Moore chose Hawaii, the ocean, and her father after her parents divorced when she was ten years old. When Moore stayed with her mother and her motivation for surfing would start to wane she would write letters to her father to stay motivated. She started earning multiple wins at National Scholastic Surfing Association, NSSA, junior surf competitions at age 11. She also won top spots at the

International Surfing Association The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, bodyboarding and all other wave riding activities. The ISA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee. After the 2022 ...

, 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.

Career

In 2010, Moore qualified to compete on the ASP (now called the

World Surf League The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional ...

) Championship Tour. She won two major contests, finished third overall, and was named Rookie of the Year. The following season, Moore was a youngster to watch on the World Tour and she lived up to her reputation, winning three events and claiming her first World crown, unseating four-time defending champ

Stephanie Gilmore Stephanie Louise Gilmore (29 January 1988) is an Australian professional surfer and eight-time world champion on the Women's WSL World Tour (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022). Career Gilmore's life as a surfer began at age 9 wh ...

in the process. At 18, she became the youngest person – male or female – to win a surfing world title. Moore took top World Tour honors again in 2013 and 2015. Moore has been named an Adventurer of the Year by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, a Woman of the Year by

Glamour magazine ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called '' ...

and Top Female Surfer in the

SURFER magazine ''Surfer'' was an American monthly periodical focused on surfing and surf culture, founded in 1962 by noted surfer, writer, photographer, artist and humorist John Severson (1933–2017). The magazine folded in 2020. ''Surfer'' began as a quarter ...

poll (numerous times). She was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame, and the State of Hawaii declared January 4 to be Carissa Moore Day.

2019 Championship Tour

At the 2019 World Surf League Women's Championship Tour, Moore finished in first place and qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

."2019 Women's Championship Tour Rankings"
''

''. December 2, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2021."Carissa Moore, Caroline Marks earn U.S. Olympic surfing spots"
''

''. December 1, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

2020

She announced after the 2019 season that she would take a break from the world tour in 2020.

2020 Summer Olympics

Moore qualified to compete for the United States in

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

on the U.S. women's team with

Caroline Marks Caroline Marks is an American professional surfer. She is a multiple national champion and the youngest female to compete in a World Surf League event. She is the youngest surfer to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour. She competed in t ...

at the

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and postponed to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

.Garrity, Tanner (May 19, 2021)
"Why Hawaiian-Born Surfers Aren't Excited to Surf for America in the Olympics"
''InsideHook''. Retrieved July 12, 2021. Moore competed under the flag of the United States for the first time in her career at the

as the

and

both recognize

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

as an entity separate of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.Branch, John (May 17, 2021)
"'I'm Not Anti-Anything, I'm Pro-Hawaii.'"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved July 12, 2021. At the 2020 Olympic Games, she represented the United States for the first time and was the first surfer to participate in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

that is ethnically Hawaiian since the final Olympic appearance of

Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born to a minor noble family less than three years before th ...

in 1924. In the first round of competition, Moore scored an 11.74 and won her heat, which advanced her directly to the third round of competition.Gibbs, Simon (July 25, 2021)
"USA duo Marks and Moore advance to Round 3 of women's surfing competition"
''

NBC Olympics The broadcasts of ''Summer'' and ''Winter Olympic Games'' produced by ''NBC Sports'' are shown on the various platforms of NBCUniversal in the United States, including the NBC broadcast network, NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com, Peacock, Spanish l ...

''. Retrieved July 25, 2021. Moore won her heat of the third round of competition against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian

Sofía Mulánovich Sofía Mulánovich Aljovín (born 24 June 1983) is a Peruvian surfer. She is a 3-time World Surfing Champion, 1 WSL and 2 ISA world championships,. She is the first Peruvian surfer ever to win a World Surf League World Championship Tour event ( ...

with a 10.34 and advanced to the quarterfinals.Pierce, Zach (July 25, 2021)
"2021 Olympics: Live updates, news, medal count, daily schedule as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, U.S. basketball compete"
''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

''. Retrieved July 25, 2021. Moore won her head-to-head competition with a score of 14.26 in the quarterfinals against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian Silvana Lima and advanced to the semifinals.Urban, Mychael (July 26, 2021)
"U.S. teen Caroline Marks, teammate Carissa Moore surf into semis"
''

''. Retrieved July 26, 2021. In the semifinals match between Moore and Japan's

Amuro Tsuzuki Amuro Tsuzuki (都筑有夢路, ''Tsuzuki Amuro''; born 5 April 2001) is a Japanese professional surfer. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's shortboard, winning a bronze medal. Career In 2019, she won the World Junior cham ...

, Moore won and advanced to the final heat where surfers compete for the gold and silver medals. In the final match against South African

Bianca Buitendag Bianca Buitendag is a South African professional surfer. She has represented South Africa at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she won silver in the women's shortboard competition. Life Buitendag was born in George, Western Cape, South Africa on ...

, Moore won the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

with a score of 14.93.Gaydos, Ryan (July 27, 2021)
"Tokyo Olympics 2021: American surfer Carissa Moore takes home gold in sport's debut"
''

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

''. Retrieved July 27, 2021.Branch, John (July 27, 2021)
"Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira Win the First Olympic Gold Medals in Surfing"
''

''. Retrieved July 27, 2021. As the 2020 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic Games where surfing was included as a sport, Moore became the first woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in surfing.Del Barco, Mandalit (July 27, 2021)
"U.S. Surfer Carissa Moore Wins The First Gold Medal Ever In Her Sport At The Olympics"
''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

''. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

2021 Season

In 2021, Carissa Moore won the WSL season at the WSL Finals in

Trestles (surfing) Trestles is a collection of surfing spots between northern San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County and southern San Clemente in Orange County in California. Trestles consists of, from north to south, Upper Trestles (Uppers), Lower Trestles ...

. She also won the

Triple Crown of Surfing The Triple Crown of Surfing is a Hawaii a specialty series of professional surfing events that have been held annually since 1983 on the North Shore of Oahu, a coastline whose winter swells can reach in height. The Triple Crown was founded by f ...

in January 2022.

Personal

Moore is

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

and also of

Chinese descent Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...

. She chooses to wear the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

, which is similar to the Hawaii State flag, instead of the

United States flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

when she competes for the

international competitions.Price, Karen (December 1, 2019)
"Hawaii Native Carissa Moore Is First American Woman To Qualify For The Olympics In Surfing"
''TeamUSA.org''. Retrieved July 11, 2021. Surfer and shark attack survivor

Bethany Hamilton Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional surfer and writer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off and who ultimately returned to professional surfing. She wrote about her exper ...

wrote in her autobiography that she admired Moore's toughness when they participated in the same competition as seven to nine year olds. Hamilton, Bethany; Berk, Sheryl; Bundschuh, Rick. ''Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board''. New York,

MTV Books Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

, 2004, pp. 41-42. Moore is a 2010 graduate from

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

in Honolulu. She married her high school sweetheart, Luke Untermann, on December 16, 2017. In 2018, Moore launched Moore Aloha Charitable Foundation, a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

focused on using surfing as a platform to bring young women together.

WSL Qualifying Series

In 2008, at the age of 16, Moore became the youngest winner of a

event when she won the Reef Hawaiian Pro, a 6-Star WQS Prime Event. In 2009, Moore qualified for the

2010 ASP World Tour The 2010 ASP World Tour was a season of professional competitive surfing run by the World Surf League The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfing, surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in ...

from the ASP Women's WQS. In 2010, Moore won the

US Open of Surfing The U.S. Open of Surfing is a week-long surfing competition held annually during the summer in Huntington Beach, California. Generally held on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, the U.S. Open is part of the qualification process for the ...

, a 6-Star WQS Prime Event. In 2011, Moore received a wildcard entry into the Men's

, limited to the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa and the Vans Hawaiian Pro at Sunset Beach, becoming the first woman in history to be given the honor.

WSL Women’s Championship Tour

In 2007, Moore reached the Final of the ASP Women's World Tour Roxy Pro event as a wildcard, becoming the youngest surfer to reach a Final of an ASP World Title Race event. The Roxy Pro wildcard entry was the first Women's World Tour event Moore entered after success in the Roxy Pro Trials. In 2009, Moore won the ASP Women's World Tour Gidget Pro Sunset Beach event as a

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

entrant. In 2010, Moore started competing on the ASP Women's World Tour. During her first year on the Tour Moore won both the TSB Bank Women's Surf Festival and Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Moore's 2010 Women's World Tour Ranking was 3rd overall. and she was awarded the ASP Women's World Tour Rookie of the Year. In 2011, Moore was declared the ASP Women's World Champion, the youngest winner of the Title. Throughout the 2011 Tour, Moore won the Billabong Rio Pro, Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic and the Roxy Pro Gold Coast. In 2012, Moore finished 3rd in the 2012 ASP World Tour, failing to win any ASP World Tour events, coming runner-up in two events. In 2013, Moore won four of the eight ASP World Tour events and became World Champion for the second time in her career. In 2014, Moore won three WSL Women's Championship Tour events. In 2015, she again won four Events of the WSL Championship Tour and won her third world title. In 2016, Moore's only victory was the Roxy Pro in Hossegor, France. In 2017, she finished the year at No. 5. In 2018, she finished the year at No. 3. In 2019, she won her fourth world championship, winning stops in France and South Africa. In 2021, she won another world championship, successfully defending her title against

Tatiana Weston-Webb Tatiana Guimaraes Weston-Webb dos Santos (born May 9, 1996) is a Brazilian–American surfer based in Kauai, Hawaii. She was the only rookie on the WCT ( professional surfing) (World Championship Tour) in 2015. Weston-Webb wears jersey numbe ...

in a head-to-head title match at the inaugural WSL Finals.

WSL Event Wins

National Scholastic Surfing Association Titles

Moore is known for her unprecedented 11 National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) Titles.

International Surfing Association

2005, Moore represented Hawai‘i at the

(ISA) World Junior Surfing Championships and was placed 3rd in the Female Junior Final (under 18) category. Moore aided Hawai‘i's first team victory in a World Junior surfing contest.2006 Year In Review, Free Surf Magazine, 15 December 2006
(accessed 28 July 2011)

Notes

:1 & 2 The equivalent of an ASP Women’s Star; at the time it was known as an ASP 6-Star Prime within the Women’s World Qualifying Series (WQS). :3 As a wildcard entrant Moore was ineligible to compete in the ASP World Title Race.

References

External links

Carissa Moore
Official website
World Surf League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Carissa 1992 births Living people American surfers American female surfers Native Hawaiian people Native Hawaiian surfers World Surf League surfers Sportspeople from Honolulu Olympic surfers of the United States Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in surfing Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American women Punahou School alumni