Kelly Slater hints at retirement after winning record eighth Pipeline title

Kelly Slater has hinted he could be done with professional surfing after winning a record eighth Pipeline title just days shy of his 50th birthday.

Kelly Slater has hinted he could be done with professional surfing after winning a record eighth Pipeline title just days shy of his 50th birthday.

Slater wound back to the clock to claim the final 30 years after he won his first title at the famous break, recording two nine-point rides - including a near-perfect 9.77 score - to beat Hawaiian young gun Seth Moniz.

An emotional Slater rated the victory “the best win of my life” before throwing out a hint the contest could be the final chapter for the man almost unanimously rated the greatest of all time.

Eleven-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater after winning the Final at the Billabong Pro Pipeline. Photo: World Surf League

“I don’t know how many more of these are going to happen,” Slater said.

“This honestly might be I might I might not show up at Sunset (Beach for the second stop of the season).

“I’m not sure yet. I’m gonna have to have a little talk to myself.

“I turn 50 in six days. I have dedicated my life to what I do - I love it more than anything in the world, I sometimes hate it more than anything in the world.

“It just has everything for me.”

In a week that included the retirement of NFL legend Tom Brady at 44, a year after he led the Tampa Bay Bucaneers to a Super Bowl title, Slater is another showing age is no barrier to greatness.

His Pipeline win sparked talk of a possible 12th World Surf League title.

But his chances look slim unless he relents on strongly-held views on vaccination, with his entry into Australia for events at Bells Beach and Margaret River in April and May set to be blocked - as it was for Novak Djokovic last month.

Kelly Slater celebrates after winning the Final at the Billabong Pro Pipeline.

Several other countries also require full vaccination status to enter, including Portugal, which will host the third round of the tour in March, ahead of the two Australian legs.

Regardless of the future, Slater’s victory on Sunday was one for the ages.

His final wave, in particular, was near perfect, combining an audacious drop and last-minute dip under the lip of a monster wave before negotiating the barrel and emerging to rapturous cheers from thousands gathered on the beach.

“I committed my life to this,” Slater said in an emotional post-final interview.

“To all of this - all the heartbreak and all the winning and all this crap. I’ve hated lots of it.

“But I just savour this and this is the best win of my life.”