Australian surfer Ethan Ewing on Tuesday followed in his late mother’s footsteps by winning the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title in front of home fans at Winkipop.
Ewing’s mother Helen, a champion surfer in the 1970s and 1980s, won the longest-running event in competitive surfing in 1983.
Forty years on, 24-year-old Queenslander Ewing dominated an all-Australian final against Newcastle surfer Ryan Callinan in choppy conditions to savor an emotional triumph.
Photo: AFP
“Far out. It’s crazy. This has been a crazy week,” said Ethan Ewing, whose mother died of cancer when he was six.
“It’s such a special thing, I’ve been thinking about her since I have been on the tour, and it’s been a huge goal of mine,” he said. “I want to do her proud.”
His name will be etched on the World Surf League (WSL) event’s trophy next to his mum’s.
Both the finalists pulled off upsets on the way to the decider, with Ethan Ewing knocking out Brazilian three-time WSL champion Gabriel Medina in the last 16 and Callinan taking down Hawaiian John John Florence in the semi-finals.
The host nation was also guaranteed a winner in the women’s event as reigning champion Tyler Wright claimed the final against compatriot Molly Picklum, the pair having emerged from all-Australian semi-finals.
“I didn’t really think much of this week,” 29-year-old Tyler said after coolly defending her title.
“It wasn’t like last year when there was so much emotion in it, as it took me 12 years to try and get the first one,” she said. “To really execute this week the way I have, I’m really proud.”
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere
RSS