Those positions went to the winning national team in each division,which is where the 0.24 that separated second-place Weston-Webb (12.24) and Defay (12) in the final,proved so decisive.

Team Australia,known as the Irukandjis,and Fitzgibbons began the final knowing she needed a win,and Defay to outpoint Weston-Webb,for Australia’s women to move past Brazil in the final women’s standings.

Tensions rose throughout the heat given Fitzgibbons held a narrow lead and Defay sat in second place until the final few minutes.

Brazil ultimately finished ahead of Australia by just 35 points in the final team standings,with Weston-Webb’s last wave guaranteeing the South American nation an extra female slot at Teahupo’o,which is expected to go to Luana Silva.

Fitzgibbons’ fourth World Surfing Games title is the most by any competitor in the event’s history,and continued her impressive revival.

At 33,the Gerroa product has fought her way back onto the top-tier Championship Tour after falling victim to the mid-season cut in 2023,dropping her back to the qualifying circuit.

“Paddling out for that final,I had a really calm feeling wash over me,” Fitzgibbons said.

“I knew that it was going to take the bigger,taller sections and attacking surfing,and I had to find that in myself going toe-to-toe with opponents from Brazil and France that I’ve surfed with for 10-plus years on the world tour.

“There’s sometimes a lot of scar tissue of some instances where it’s just been so tight,and they’ve got me,and pipped me at the post. Just to know that I still lean into that and it’s possible to win one back on them – that’s the exciting thing about surfing and why I still show up to the Games.”

Each country’s Olympics committee has the final say on which athletes fill its qualifying spots,though Fitzgibbons would have been odds on to take an additional Australian position given her win in Puerto Rico.

Brazil’s Gabriel Medina prevailed as men’s champion on Monday morning to secure an extra position for his country. He and fellow former world champion Italo Ferreira are the leading contenders to take that spot.

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