Balancing whacked: Wright must overcome head illness to chase gold at Teahupo’o
By Dan Walsh
Two-time world surfing champion Tyler Wright withdrew from her most recent tour event in Brazil due to ongoing balance and equilibrium issues caused by head knocks and a recent operation.
But one of Australia’s best female surfers has no hesitation in taking on Teahupo’o – the world’s heaviest wave – in pursuit of historic Olympic gold.
Wright, whose older brother Owen returned from his own career-threatening concussion battles to win bronze in Tokyo, will join rising tyro Molly Picklum and Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing in Tahiti next week as Australia’s Olympic representatives.
The 30-year-old has competed throughout 2024 while still adjusting to an off-season operation that inserted seven screws into her head to ease breathing issues that had left her “semi-suffocating all the time”.
A skull expansion surgery inserted a maxillary palatal expander into Wright’s mouth to widen her previously narrow airways.
She told reporters on Thursday that head knocks while surfing at different points this season had been exacerbated by the screws inserted during her surgery, and had in turn affected her balance and forced her out of last month’s Rio Pro.
Tyler Wright in the zone at Teahupo’o earlier this year.Credit: World Surf League
“I was having trouble with my balance [but] the injury’s going well,” Wright said.
“I have struggled this season with the adaptations, only because I got hit in the head and then I’ve still got a fair few screws in my head.
“I have been injured a couple of times this year which means that it can be hard to push through a couple of things. Pulling out [of the Rio Pro], I was just told to come home, reset and get the treatment I needed instead of staying on the road.
“It happens when you get hit in the head a few too many times. I’ve had a little bit of trouble with my balance. I had [a head knock] earlier in the year and then I had a little knock again.
Wright in the thick of a Teahupo’o barrel during this year’s Tahiti Pro.Credit: World Surf League via Getty Images
“I have had inner ear issues, that actually started in November, but it’s just my body making the adjustments.
“When you get maxillary expansion, it does put different pressure points on your skull as well and it also has changed the way my neck is too.
“But it’s all going well, it’s the best I have felt probably throughout my entire life, so that’s incredible.”
Wright has described her airway expansion surgery as life-changing after competing with breathing issues her entire career.
Her withdrawal from Rio effectively ended any chance of a run at this year’s world title – having won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017 before a debilitating bout of post-viral syndrome.
Teahupo’o offers the sternest test of a surfer’s mettle on the competitive circuit, with a heaving three-four-metre swell pummelling the infamous reef on Thursday (AEST).
Conditions verged on tow-only, where surfers are positioned for waves using a jet ski for safety, though long-range forecasts do not predict such extreme waves for the July 28 to August 6 event window.
Women’s surfing enjoyed a red-letter day during this year’s Tahiti Pro, when Teahupo’o local and gold medal favourite Vahine Fierro prevailed in massive swell and Brazilian Tatiana Weston-Webb scored a ‘perfect 10’.
Picklum and Wright are both regarded as two of the world’s better female barrel-riders, and both have competed regularly at Teahupo’o since the women’s tour returned to competing there in 2022. For 15 years prior, only men had competed at the break on safety grounds.
Along with Championship tour regulars, Olympic qualifying will also pitch several surfers with limited Teahupo’o experience into the competition, including 15-year-old Chinese qualifier Siqi Yang.
“The way the tour is now, we’re forced to throw ourselves over the ledge of some scary waves,” Picklum said.
“Myself included. I feel like the women, we’re still trying to learn out there, push ourselves and see how we fit out in the line-up out there.
“When you put a gold medal on the line, I feel like some magic can happen. I honestly just hope that we actually get Teahupo’o in all its glory.
“Obviously Mother Nature can provide anything, so we might be just doing backside snaps [in smaller waves], we don’t really know yet.
“I hope that we’re being forced to go some bigger barrels.”
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