Sophie McCulloch and Morgan Cibilic take out major Gold Coast Open titles

A Queensland surfer has capped off her incredible redemption story in style, winning her first event after 10 months on the sidelines from a broken back. Check out all the winners from the Gold Coast Open here.

Sophie McCulloch at the Gold Coast Open. Picture: Sebastian Andres Rios

Sophie McCulloch’s long road back from a broken back reached its fitting conclusion at the Gold Coast Open as she claimed victory in emphatic fashion, with a dominant performance throughout the entire weekend.

“It feels really special, my family’s here watching and they watched me all last year as I struggled to accept the injury and recover,” she said.

“To win my first event in front of them feels nice.

“I’m grateful to have had lots of heats out at Burleigh.’

Despite her incredible victory, McCulloch took more pleasure out of the way she performed on a personal level, with the win an added bonus

“My aim wasn’t to win the event, my aim was to do my best surfing, I’m happy I saw glimpses of that,” she said.

“I still felt really nervous, considering there’s no stakes for me, just because there was a long build up to this one.

“I just wanted to stick to my guns.”

McCulloch spoke about the mental challenges she faced to return to the surf after almost a year out of action.

“Because I haven’t competed in 10 months, I was kind of getting in my head about trying to get reps up in the jersey,” she said.

“To get five events out here, a couple of four-man and a couple of two-man it is going to do a lot for my confidence going into the rest of the year.”

Morgan Cibilic claimed the men’s final after a thrilling battle with Dakoda Walters.

“(I am) stoked, I was pretty frothing to get a win, I haven’t had one for a while so always feels good,” he said.

With both surfers leaving everything out there, surfing faithful witnessed an all-time great final.

Morgan Cibilic at the 2025 Gold Coast Open.

“We both got our scores on the same wave was pretty funny, you don’t get that very often” he said.

“Hopefully (the win) will give me a bit of confidence (for the rest of the year) but we will see.

“It was a pretty hard comp we had the best Aussies in it.”

The men’s longboard final went down to the wire with the winner crowned in the most dramatic of circumstances with Kai Ellice-Flint claiming victory on the final wave.

“(This is) super special, especially to have my family here, my coach, my sparring partner … the support that I have has been amazing so I’m feeling very grateful to be in this position,” he said.

Ellice-Flint revealed what his mindset was heading into the final moments of the contest before his clutch wave to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat.

“After the swims I was pretty gassed, I got out the back and took a moment to feel the ocean, feel the immersion of being in nature” he said.

“Letting go of everything that is in your head and becoming a little bit more present with what’s around you.”

Meanwhile Tully White went back-to-back in the women’s longboard competition,

“I am really, really excited to get the win here at Burleigh, it’s a tricky longboard wave and all the girls were surfing so well so really exciting to get the win,” she said.

“I had some confidence coming off winning last year but all the girls were surfing so well so it was anyone’s to win.”