En-TYLER-ly Wright - All Hail the World Champ.
I love people who break boundaries. I'm not just talking about exceeding performance expectations but actually split apart social, gender, racial, athletic fences and whatever other hurdles might have been built to keep them in a particular box.
This is why I fucking love Tyler Wright. Even more so now she is the World Champ.
The thing about Tyler is that she seems to have cracked the formula of the surf industry and made it work for herself. There are no bill boards with her butt cheeks in full view. She's not selling sex, she's selling surfing. In fact, I think she's the only girl I've ever seen on a Ripcurl billboard actually surfing.
But seriously, how good is she?
Some obscure B grade celebrity once said "excellence is the best defence against sexism, be so good they can't ignore you." And by golly, Tyler has done that.
Hair tucked into her felt hat, smile too big for her face.
Low stance and quick tail releases, again and again. Faultless, fluid. Fully engaged low centre of gravity, same post heat interview over and over again: "I just want to win every heat and every final". Her calm determination oh so convincing the entire year. Not once did I believe she wouldn't win it. Combine that with the bottom of her boards wiped with melted butter and it was confirmed - Tyler Wright is queen.
Post World Title win was words of actually honesty. No, you can't script this. You can't script the World Champ's ode to her family and only girls with older brothers will really understand that goofy footed take of in the Hossegor final.
And then, after the actual moment, clips spilling onto the internet stadium of Tyler in the tube, Tyler in the air, Tyler in the car, the bush and Tyler just everywhere really. And being better than everyone else on the entire planet at the lot of it.
Way better.