Caroline Marks secures Paris 2024 spot for USA with 2023 WSL Finals win as Filipe Toledo retains world title
Marks beat five-time champion Carissa Moore to claim her first world title, while Olympic gold medallist Toledo retained his crown in the men’s competition.
Surfing
Caroline Marks and Filipe Toledo clinched the women's and men's World Surf League's (WSL) 2023 Championship Tour titles respectively on Saturday (9 September) at the series Finals in Lower Trestles, California.
In the women's final match-up, 21-year-old Marks of the US triumphed over Hawaii’s defending champion - and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist - Carissa Moore.
The Floridia native, now living in nearby San Clemente, secured a comfortable win with a two-wave total of 14.6 (out of a possible 20) after eliminating 17-year-old rookie Caitlin Simmers and Australia’s two-time champion Tyler Wright in earlier rounds.
"This whole week has been just magical. Everyone from Florida and from San Clemente has been supporting me, I just can't believe it," said Marks, who became only the fourth female WSL champion in the last 16 years.
With this win, she also secured the final Olympic women's quota available for USA through the WSL Championship Tour, after Moore earned the first American slot for Paris 2024 last month.
Elsewhere, reigning Olympic champion and top seed Toledo claimed a second consecutive WSL title with a hard-fought victory over surprise finalist Ethan Ewing from Australia.
The 28-year-old, whose high-risk aerial manoeuvers earned him a 2-0 victory during the final, became the first back-to-back title winner since John Florence in 2016-2017, and the first Brazilian ever to do so.
“Seven years ago when I had my first kid, I wasn't home to be there with my wife... I knew in the long run it would pay off and this is a dream come true," said Toledo, embracing his family and being carried up the beach.