By Michelle Duff
Five-time world champion Carissa Moore greets daughter 'Olena after taking out the final of the women's championship tour in Raglan.
Emerging from the water to thousands of cheering spectators after days spent carving up the waves in Raglan with near-perfect scores, US surfer Carissa Moore planted a kiss on her 15-month-old daughter, 'Olena.
"We did it, bubba," she said, holding her toddler aloft as she was hefted on the shoulders of supporters for a victory lap at the New Zealand Pro World Surf League Championship Tour event. Moments later, there wasn't a dry eye in Manu Bay as Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion Moore spoke of her first win since she took two seasons off for 'Olena's arrival.
"This is for the mums," she said. "I doubted that I could do this again, that I would ever get this feeling, to stand in front of a crowd and score 9s and be able to surf at a high level. My daughter has given me a strength that I didn't even know I had."
