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How Stephanie Gilmore Turned a Traumatic Experience Into Competitive Power

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Stephanie Gilmore fell in love with surfing at a very young age. Even in grade school, it was her first thought when waking up, and her last thought before falling asleep. With any shift in the wind, the young Australian would immediately wonder what it meant for the waves at the legendary surf spots she frequented with her dad and sisters near her home on the Gold Coast.

In a recent conversation with Kelley O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports podcast, Gilmore calls her early relationship with surfing a “healthy addiction.” This obsession, combined with a zest for putting on a show and a natural ease with competition, resulted in record-breaking success when she eventually started competing. In 2007, at 19 years of age, she won the World Title in her debut season on the World Surfing League tour. (The WSL is the annual pro tour where the top 17 female and 34 male surfers compete against each other in events around the world over the course of 10 months.) No man or woman had ever won the championship their rookie year.

Gilmore went on to add three more consecutive World Titles, making it four in a row for the young superstar. Over the last decade, she has added three more to her trophy case, tying her with legend Layne Beachley for the most women’s World Titles in history.

When asked by O’Hara which championship was the most rewarding of her career, there was no hesitation. It was Gilmore’s fifth title, in 2012, which came just two years after she was physically assaulted by a stranger outside her home during the Christmas holidays.

Up until this traumatic event, competition had always been full of joy and ease for Gilmore. She loved the performance factor. Doing tricks on her boogie board as a kid, she’d be hoping the swimmers and sunbathers around her were riveted by her sweet skills. When journalists routinely asked where her competitive fire came from, she would recall her imagined boogie board glory.

“It’s more of a performance thing that I really love,” she tells O’Hara, “It’s going out there on that stage and having a moment to really shine and impress people.”

She was also unashamedly confident in the vision she had for herself. At 14 years of age, she raced out of school one day to watch her idols compete in a pro event at her home beach, where she felt an overwhelming intuition that she belonged out on the waves.

She tells O’Hara she remembers thinking, “I can win. Just put me in that event right now, I will smash these girls.”

Three years later, qualifying for that same event with a wildcard spot, she did exactly that, winning first place as a 17-year-old amateur.

Once she was a full-time professional surfer, Gilmore never understood why her fellow competitors often set goals to only finish in the top ten or top five. For Gilmore, there was only ever one worthwhile goal: to be number one. She (literally and figuratively) rode this wave of confidence, skill, and competitive joy to those first four World Titles. Then, she was randomly attacked.

The assault occurred on December 27, 2010, just a couple weeks after cementing her fourth World Title. She was walking back to her apartment after plans to see a movie with a friend fell through. As she approached the stairs to her building, a stranger ran up behind her and hit her twice with a metal bar. The first blow was to her head, and she immediately saw blood everywhere. The second broke the wrist of the arm she had raised to shield herself.

Luckily, her relatives who also lived in the complex heard her scream and came running out. The man fled but was caught and arrested later that night. Over the next several weeks, Gilmore tried to process and cope with what happened. With her wrist in a cast, she spent those weeks away from surfing.

“It fully rattled my cage,” she tells O’Hara, “It was the first time in my life that I had such a traumatic experience and such a mountain to climb ahead of me.”

While the wrist injury healed in time for her to get back on tour for the first event of the 2011 season, the emotional damage took longer to heal.

“I was questioning my confidence in the ocean. I was questioning just everything,” she confides to O’Hara. After absolutely dominating the previous four seasons, Gilmore dropped to third place in 2011.

Coming back after the break for the 2012 season, Gilmore knew something needed to shift. She’d been putting in the physical and emotional work to heal her demons, but she could no longer feel her carefree and joyful state in competition the way she once had. Then, in the first event of the 2012 season she discovered a grittier, angrier drive to win.

“I remember it was a new competitor in me,” she tells O’Hara, “It was a beast that I hadn’t ever met yet myself. It was almost like I’d built this competitive creature within me and this was the unveiling.”

After spending the first years of her career known on tour as “Happy Gilmore,” she now began tapping into a much more primal and instinctual approach to competition.

“You have to sort of look at your opponents like they’re a piece of meat and you haven’t eaten for a year,” she laughingly tells O’Hara. This new Gilmore beast-mode worked. She won first place in the event and by the end of the year had reclaimed her place atop the tour, winning her fifth and most hard-fought World Title.

Though no one ever wishes for it, overcoming the kind of hardships Gilmore was forced to endure gave her a new perspective on surfing, leading to the most rewarding victory of her career. For Gilmore, World Title number five was the sweetest one yet.

That could change in the near future as she now chases down what would be a record-breaking eighth World Title, as well as the first ever Olympic gold medal ever awarded in the sport when it makes its debut next summer in Tokyo.

Listen to Stephanie Gilmore’s full conversation with Kelley O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports podcast here.

Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries Ride Upset Wins into the WNBA Weekend

Phoenix Mercury players including Satou Sabally huddle during a 2025 WNBA game against the New York Liberty.
Phoenix rose to No. 3 in the WNBA standings with Thursday's win over New York. (Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Las Vegas Aces Aim to Stop Skid Ahead of Tough WNBA Weekend Matchups

Las Vegas's A'ja Wilson tries to defend a lay-up from Seattle's Gabby Williams during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Las Vegas Aces will face both Seattle and Indiana this weekend. (Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.
  • No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.
  • No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

NWSL Kicks Off Final Gameday Slate Ahead of Summer Break

The San Diego Wave celebrate a goal by María Sánchez during a 2025 NWSL match.
The San Diego Wave will take on 2024 runners-up Washington on Sunday. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

  • No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.
  • No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.
  • No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Ups Purse to $12 Million, Ties LPGA Tour Record

Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul hits a shot during the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Thai golfer Jeeno Thitikul is in the lead after one round at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.

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