Stephanie Gilmore announces World Surf League Championship Tour comeback
Two years after stepping away from the tour, Australian surfing legend Stephanie Gilmore will make her return in 2026 after being awarded a season wildcard.
www.abc.net.auHere’s the latest on Stephanie Gilmore based on recent public reporting.
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Gilmore is set to return to the World Surf League Championship Tour in 2026, having been awarded a season wildcard. She plans to compete at Bells Beach in April to start the season. This marks a high-profile comeback after stepping away from full-time competition for a period.[1]
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The comeback news highlights her enduring status as one of the sport’s most decorated surfers, with eight world titles and a long career spanning more than a decade. Her return is framed as a challenge to face a new generation of competitors on the CT.[1]
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Regarding personal history, Gilmore was the target of a violent assault in 2010, an event frequently discussed in profiles and retrospective pieces about her career. While not part of current events, it remains a notable inflection point in her story and has been covered widely in connected profiles.[5][6]
If you’d like, I can pull more precise dates for event entries in 2026, or provide a short profileut/summary with notable career milestones and titles.