When Steph Gilmore wasn’t busy shredding the guitar on stage with Spider Bait down in Torquay over the Easter weekend, she made a cameo appearance at the Bells CT event in a legends heat with Mick Fanning and Mason Ho. However, at the next CT stop on the Gold Coast she’ll once again be facing off against the world’s best as she’s been given a wildcard into the contest which will now be held at Burleigh Heads.
She’ll be joined by Spanish Olympian Nadia Erostarbe on the women’s side as she replaces Johanne Defay who has withdrawn for the remainder of the season as she is expecting her first child.
On the men’s side, Ian Gentil continues to replace the injured Gabriel Medina. After Ramzi Boukhiam suffered an unfortunate injury at Bells, he will be replaced by North Narrabeen’s Jordy Lawler who was the highest ranked Challenger Series surfer available and not already in the contest.
Jordy, who has come within touching distance of qualifying for the CT on multiple occasions, has competed in the big league’s before when he was the injury replacement wildcard for Pipe and Sunset in 2022. He’ll be looking to use the event to build momentum into his upcoming CS campaign.
Bonsoy team-rider, former CT surfer, and winner of the Gold Coast Challenger Series event in 2022, Callum Robson has been awarded the event wildcard for this year’s contest.
A number of the Gold Coast and Queensland’s most promising up-and-comers, plus a few professional surfing icons, will be given the chance to compete for a spot amongst the world’s best at this year’s event, this Friday at the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Trials that will run at Burleigh Heads. One male and one female will gain entry into the main event by winning this one-day competition.
The waiting period for the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro starts on Saturday 3 May.
