Cites back pain!
Aaaand it’s official. Kelly has pulled out of Brazil. This isn’t surprising, but it should be.
Why? Because of continuity. Or… Continuance. Yeah that’s it.
You remember the fifteen-minute doco that KS Wave co., Outerknown, Firewire, and Nair For Men released last week? The one that detailed Kelly’s mediocre run through the Oz events and all the fun stuff in between? Here’s how it ended:
Coming out of Australia, Kelly is in a challenging position.
But that’s what continuance is all about: the perseverance and commitment between where we are and where we want to be…
So yeah, that sold me. Kelly would fulfill his obligation 2017 commitment and attend his least-fav event on tour — if not to achieve his goal, then for Continuity‘s sake.
But the back pain! WSL reports:
Unfortunately, 11x World Champion Kelly Slater has withdrawn from the event due to back issues. “I have been working through some injuries the past several seasons and, unfortunately, I need to take some time off to mend my body,” Slater said. “I won’t be in Rio and I don’t know how long I’ll need. My lower back has been in constant pain for the last three years and although I’ve been able to fight through it with short stints of rehab, it hasn’t fixed the problem. If I don’t do this now, at some point, I’ll ruin my body. I’m spending the next five weeks rehabilitating with WSL Doctors in Australia and we’ll see how I feel after that. I’m hopeful that I will be in top form again this season at some point. Thanks everyone for the support.”
I don’t doubt Kelly’s got back pain, not at all. But would he use it as an excuse to pull out of Cloudbreak, one day in advance, if the forecast was solid? Probs not.
Oh and… his five weeks of rehab ends on the starting date of the Fiji waiting period. Coincidence? Kelly Slater doesn’t know the word!
That said, I can’t blame him for not going to Brazil. Best of luck in his recovery and hopefully we’ll see a happy, healthy Slater come Fiji — one of the few places where he remains über-relevant.
While Kelly didn’t pose much of a threat in Saquarema, his absence creates jubilation in one lucky boy! Kelly will be replaced by Bino Lopes, the local kid who ‘ooped his way past Wilko last year.
Here’s a fun tidbit for the evening. Kelly Slater spotted this afternoon with one alleged “lingering back injury” belting one from the tee box down the fairway at Goat Hill. For those of you who don’t know where that is, it’s far from Rio, and even further from the “WSL doctors in Australia”.
But at least Goat Hill is close to his surfboard company location. Was Chuy there? Besides… the golf back swing is the best therapy for resolving back pain – said no one ever !
The girlfriend asked, “Why, because the water’s gross, and dirty? And the waves look like what you surf?” Nearly lost my shit.
Just watching Brazil…They’re saying that the surfing event[s?] at the Tokyo Olympics will sport a field of “20 men and 20 women”. Anyone have a clue what this means? How will the select 20 be chosen, and how do you split 20 down to Gold Silver Bronze? Three man/ woman final or surf off for bronze ? [JJF is fired up for it, he reckons.]
Boxing always has two bronze medals, so if I qualify I will have a one in five chance to medal, and if Abu Dhabi field a team I am starting to fancy my chances!
I wonder if the Gudauskas family can enter for Lithuania? Micro will be up there for Ireland. I can feel a new nationality beckoning, maybe one of the “..stans”. Might meet you in the repercharge round, Jimmy.
It’ll feature a field of 20 nations, each team being a man and a woman. The 20 nations will be decided at least partly by overall results at ISA events which means the ISA Surfing Games is gonna suddenly be flooded with new and possibly surprising nations! They have a format but it’ll probably change before the Games Commence. As to whether the surfers will engage in the traditional Olympic Athlete Sex A Thon following their appearances at Chiba, well I certainly hope not! This sport has enough problems as it is.
So you’re saying America, Aus, and Brazil will have only one surfer competing (from each gender)? The drama leading up to selections will surpass any surf competition we’ve seen! Also, does each Hawaiian island get its own representative or how does that work?
Yes! That’s as it has so far been explained. And as far as I can tell, Hawaii will not be considered a separate nation in the Olympic Games — Hawaii’s surfers will be considered as part of the USA’s talent pool. To me this is a bit of a no-no and separates the Olympic participation from surf culture, but …it’s the Olympics! It’s gonna be pretty weird no matter what.
Might end up as relevant to high performance sport as the Tennis and Golf in the Olympics. Pity.
it’s gona be so much drama. So much!
Man and Woman team? Tandem??
If that’s the format, I think the sex-a-thon will be more compelling viewing.
I guess negotiations for his appearance didn’t go as planned
https://youtu.be/yiFNrO33bSo
Giggs is in though. Fuck.
the oopa loompa from last year that beat wilko was deivid silva not bino lopes
(knows when to fold ’em)
“I’m swinging for the fences here: I think the GOAT is carrying an injury”
Nick 24 days ago on cough-cough Surfline.com
fucken copycat
Looks like Kelly Slater signed Boo up for some Jew ShihTzu training https://uploads.disquscdn.c… , and learned a few a things at parent orientation himself.
Time to schedule a play date Chas! (hey Mike. If you get a minute away from laughing at the fruits of your labor *fruits = CF n’ his Lames*, can you tell Chas for me.)
p.s. I recommend another block walk to deplete your adrenaline dump from today’s events. Rest. Rest with a shitty grin of satisfaction. Give the keyboard time to cool down.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Kelly is the master of pulling out, no way a guy that majestic and age-proof hasn’t rooted half the planet already, and he’s obviously not suffocating his giant hog with petroleum products, he’s been pulling out since the early 90’s
smells fishy
yeah, and no one says they smell something fishy when you say you’re an oceanyeti.