Steph Gilmore - Photos ©WSL
Sophie Goldschmidt yesterday announced equal pay for all events controlled by WSL from 2019 onwards. The league director adds that after restoring women's competitions on the most beautiful waves on the planet, this decision also goes in the direction of better-showcasing women surfers.
In a long article on The Players Tribune, Steph Gilmore tells how she grew up with posters of male surfers in her room because surfers were largely under-represented at the time.
After her fourth world title, she wondered why her successes were worth less than those of men and fought to get the financial recognition she deserved. She salutes Pierre Agnes who contributed to her change of status.
She hopes that this leap towards equality will motivate more girls to take up professional surfing, and thus advance the whole sport.
Few men can claim to surf better than Carissa Moore
Kelly Slater, associated with this forum, tells how he saw women's surfing progress. He remembers a competition in France, when for the first time a woman participated in the expression session with the men, and blew everyone away. It was Layne Beachley, just before she won her 7 world titles, and he also explains that her feminism does not date back to today because she was raised by an extremely deserving single mother.
He would like to see this breakthrough at the beginning of something bigger: "I think this decision by WSL is a message to society - equal premiums should be the norm".
Today surfers from all over the world have greeted the news, so it seems we are on the right track!
For more articles, click here!
