Cathy Freeman’s memorable run to Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics has inspired her
Brazilian surfer Wellington Reis competes during the Sunset Beach APP Pro 2019 on February 19, 2019 on the North shore of Oahu. - Wellington Reis won 2nd place at the Sunset Beach APP Pro 2019. Picture: BRIAN BIELMANN / AFP
Gilmore, who began surfing at the age of 10 and first competed on the world circuit seven years later, says Freeman storming down the straight in Sydney to secure the 400m gold medal was etched in the memory of her 13-year-old mind. “So when I heard surfing was in the Olympics, I said to myself, ‘Great I want to try and have a moment like that’.”
“Olympics is like one chance, a 30-minute heat. Who knows what [the] waves will be like. The pressure will be incredible with no mistakes allowed, and [you have to] go out there and put together the best performance of the entire last four years of your life. “Surfers and skaters [skateboarders] keep some kind of street credibility, some coolness about them, because they are subcultures. They are rebels and do not want to follow a path of corporate sports,” said Gilmore.
But Gilmore says her relationship with the sea will not be altered just because surfing has gained acceptance among the grey suits of the International Olympic Committee.
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