Injured Sally Fitzgibbons ready for Margaret River Pro surf defence
DEFENDING Margaret River Pro champion Sally Fitzgibbons has pain but is no longer seriously impeded by a foot injury which has confined her to a moon boot out of the water for three weeks.
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DEFENDING Margaret River Pro champion Sally Fitzgibbons has pain but is no longer seriously impeded by a foot injury which has seen her confined to a moon boot out of the water for the past three weeks.
The NSW south coast surfer says she is fired-up ahead of her last opportunity to claim a win in Australian waters prior to the world tour heading overseas for the remainder of 2018.
Officials on Wednesday called for two lay days at the event with conditions to be reassessed on Friday.
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One of Australia’s leading contenders for the 2018 world crown with champion Tyler Wright and six-time winner Stephanie Gilmore, Fitzgibbons is currently languishing in 10th place in the title race after her worst ever result at Bells Beach last week – a 13th.
But Fitzgibbons is upbeat about both her recovery from the foot injury and her chances of defending the Margaret River Pro crown when the competition starts as early as Wednesday.
“I crushed it on a landing,’’ Fitzgibbons said of her injured big toe.
“It’s good to avoid a break but difficult to heal so I’ve been kicking round in a boot.
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“I’m pretty ready for this event though. I can definitely be out there knowing I am not doing further damage.
“There is pain but it’s not bad pain.’’
Gilmore and compatriot Julian Wilson, who shares the No.1 ranking with Brazilian Italo Ferreira, will both wear the yellow leaders rashie into the third leg of this year’s women’s and mens world tours.
But absent from the event will be two of the US’s best - 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and Courtney Conlogue.
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Both are out with foot injuries with Conlogue’s protracted recovery from a broken foot delivering Central Coast teenager Macy Callaghan her third straight start on the world surfing tour as the injury replacement.
Joining Wilson in the men’s field is Mikey Wright, who has been awarded the wildcard after taking down two world champions at the recent Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.
Originally published as Injured Sally Fitzgibbons ready for Margaret River Pro surf defence
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