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Surfing legend Kelly Slater has fought back tears after being knocked out of the Margaret River Pro, which could effectively end his career.
The 11-time world champion was chaired up the steps after being eliminated in the round of 32 by world number one Griffin Colapinto in small surf off the West Australian coast.
Slater has applied for a wildcard into August's Fiji Pro, which he may well get, but was clearly reckoning with the end of a professional surfing career lasting more than three decades as he spoke after only managing a two-wave score of 6.17, losing to Colapinto's 11.87.
"It's almost hit me; it's right there bubbling," the 52-year-old said.
Slater said he had been "struggling … fighting through pain" since Bells Beach in 2022, when he injured his hip and had to have surgery.
"Everything comes to an end and if you don't adapt, you don't survive," he said, trying to hold back tears.
"My motivation hasn't quite been there to put in that 100 per cent that everyone's doing now.
"It's been an incredible lifetime of memories. Just so much emotion for so long, so much dedication.
"It's not all roses but it's been the best times of my life. I know my family's at home watching. Love you guys. I couldn't quite pull off a miracle, but I pulled a few off over the years."
Slater said he started truly coming to terms with his surfing career ending in February, when talking to his partner after getting knocked out of the Sunset Beach event in Oahu by Australian Ethan Ewing.
"I was at the house talking to Kalani and I just kind of broke down and said 'this feels like the end'," he said.
Despite conquering the sport around the world since his first world title in 1992, Slater has never won at Margaret River and said he would like to end his career at a break where he has happier memories.
"The support here's been unquestionably incredible over the years. I've never even had a good result here and the crowds have been so supportive of me," he said.
"[But] I've had a fight with this wave my whole career, so it's not necessarily the wave I want to end on. I've put in for a wildcard for Fiji. We'll see how it goes."
Kalani is pregnant and expecting in about three months, with Slater saying he was looking forward to "the start of something else, the start of the rest of life".
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