Carissa Moore reflects on winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics and returning to the WSL tour

American surfer Carrisa Moore is the first-ever gold medal winner in Olympic surfing, but she is not done for the year.

Now that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are over most of the athletes are returning home to show off their medals to their families and to their hometowns. That is not the case for surfing gold medalist Carissa Moore, at least not yet. The World Surf League tour is still in full swing and despite winning gold in Japan, Moore still has some work cut out for herself in the water. Moore is currently in the lead with points but that can easily change if she doesn’t keep up her skills on the waves.

Moore spoke to FanSided this week about what it meant to her to represent the United States in the Olympics, and the first time surfing was ever included in the games.

“I really enjoyed the Olympic experience I had such a fun time,” Moore said. “The whole way through it, I didn’t really have any expectations going in which was good. I think. I just was, super, super excited for everything that came my way. Just hanging out with the team and my teammates and getting dressed up in the outfits and going to the new venue and seeing all the setup and stuff. It felt bigger, just with like, yeah, just like the setup and how it was broadcasted and stuff and, and organized. But I tried to do my best to keep it simple and treat it like any other event.”

Although the Olympics are behind her, Moore is still seeking another title this year, the WSL championship. Moore was won four world titles and is seeking her second consecutive title this year. Although she is sitting in first in points coming back to the tour, this next event is one that is unfamiliar to most athletes. For the first time since 2006, the WSL tour will be returning to Mexico at Barra de la Cruz. This will mean that some of the athletes will get to experience these waves for the first time.

“I think I think that’s one of the things that we’ve, we’ve learned just being surfers is just how to adapt in a short amount of time,” Moore explained. “I think a lot of the surfers on tour are really excited about this next event. It’s a really playful, fun wave. And I think it allows for some, some really progressive performance. So I think, yeah, without a lot of consequence, or like, a lot of risks. So it’ll be, it’ll be fun to see what everybody does in the next couple of days.”

The Olympics have given the sport of surfing a bump up in mainstream media, and Moore bringing home the gold was a huge accomplishment. With the bigger platform, can come more pressure, but Moore has her mindest handled.

“I am definitely very grateful for the platform I’ve been given to hopefully use it in a positive way. Um, but uh, ya know, it’s definitely really cool to see what the Olympics has already done for surfing, I feel like it has reached such a broader audience and the amount of outside media that we don’t normally get on our you know, normally so it’s, it’s, it’s great to know that surfing can reach those places and hopefully provide some inspiration for people.”

The Corona Open Mexico is going on right now and can be seen on the WSL app or on WSL on YouTube.