Perth (Australia) (AFP) - Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater missed the World Surf League tour's mid-season cut Saturday in a blow that could spell the end of his more than three-decade career.
The 51-year-old American, widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, was eliminated in the round of 32 at the Margaret River Pro in Western Australia.
It meant he finished outside the top 22 halfway through the season to miss the cut, a contentious new concept introduced in 2022 to slim down the field.
He can no longer compete on the top level championship tour unless he is offered a wild card for the back half of the year.Alternatively, he could surf the second-tier challenger series, or retire.
"It is what it is.Let's see how things turn out," the Florida-born Slater said on the WSL website after his elimination, adding that he was not sure about his plans.
"I didn't feel stressed about the situation.I was enjoying the day.It's a perfect day.Whatever, you know.We're breathing."
The ultra-competitive Slater, known for his prowess and style, arrived on the scene in 1990, capturing his first world title two years later aged 20 and his last in 2011.
He is both the youngest and oldest world champion.
His most dominant days were the mid-1990s, when he won five straight tour titles between 1994 and 1998 and was virtually unbeatable.He has 56 World Surf League career victories.
Frequently compared to basketball's Michael Jordan in how he has transcended his sport, he has appeared in dozens of surfing films and starred in the hit nineties TV show "Baywatch", inspiring a generation of surfing stars.
