{"id":2048,"date":"2026-04-06T05:32:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T00:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/brazils-luana-silva-elated-after-beating-stephanie-gilmore-at-bells-beach\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T05:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T00:02:54","slug":"brazils-luana-silva-elated-after-beating-stephanie-gilmore-at-bells-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/brazils-luana-silva-elated-after-beating-stephanie-gilmore-at-bells-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil&#8217;s Luana Silva elated after beating Stephanie Gilmore at Bells Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Young Brazilian Luana Silva says she was overwhelmed to defeat one of her idols, Australian Stephanie Gilmore, at Bells Beach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Gilmore&#8217;s World Surf League (WSL) return as a full-time competitor started on the wrong note on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Silva eliminated the eight-time world surfing champion in the first round.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Gilmore, a four-time winner at Bells Beach, had previously never finished worse than the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_floatRight__nfR_t RelatedCard_relatedCard__4Im5s interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU interactive_hoverContext__LDUDX interactive_defaults__AKxUU\" data-component=\"RelatedCard\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106532502\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-11-19\/surfing-australia-stephanie-gilmore-announces-wsl-comeback\/106025994\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_heading__S_nm2 Typography_sizeMobile18__eJCIB Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_serif__qU2V5 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Gilmore announces surfing comeback<\/h3>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Australian surfing legend Stephanie Gilmore will make her return to competitive surfing in 2026 after being awarded a season wildcard.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Silva led throughout their heat in the four- to six-feet conditions, scoring 11.83 to 6.10.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Gilmore, 38, <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-11-19\/surfing-australia-stephanie-gilmore-announces-wsl-comeback\/106025994\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106025994\">is competing in the World Surf League as a wildcard after a two-year sabbatical from full-time competition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Silva was runner-up to Australian Isabella Nichols at Bells Beach last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said Gilmore helped inspire her to become a professional surfer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t think I could have had a harder match-up \u2026 she&#8217;s the &#8216;GOAT&#8217;,&#8221; Silva said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;She had more to lose than I did, but at the same time, these last two years, I actually got her spot when she wanted to take the break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;So it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Thanks Steph, I can&#8217;t be your friend in the water&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;But I&#8217;m stoked. She&#8217;s been my inspiration since I was eight years old. I have the most respect for her \u2014 she&#8217;s just the GOAT, I love her.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK Figure_figure__xLyBy Figure_docImage__DSvk4\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" id=\"106532492\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/106532492\">\n<div class=\"Figure_content__8xRH4\">\n<div class=\"FigureContent_content__GnImC\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Luana Silva holding a surf board at the 2025 Bells Beach competition.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/5037a0db527d336319ef7a4d1c9e010c?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=3333&amp;cropW=5000&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"Figure_caption__fS2lN\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\">\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Luana Silva was a runner-up at Bells Beach last year.<!-- --> <cite>(<span>Getty Images\/WSL: Ed Sloane, File<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Silva said she focused on her own surfing but admitted to being in awe of Gilmore as they went head-to-head.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;When I paddled out there, it was such a &#8216;pinch-me&#8217; moment. Steph at Bells, how much better could that be?&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I was kind of fan-girling out in the water before the heat, too, but I had to turn it off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The new competition format means all heats are elimination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">US five-time world champion Carissa Moore, also back in the WSL as a wildcard, won her opening-round heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Australian Sally Fitzgibbons also progressed to the second round, but compatriot Ellie Harrison fell to American Lakey Peterson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The men&#8217;s second round followed the women on Saturday afternoon, with only two heats possible because of changing conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Australian Joel Vaughan lost to Brazilian Miguel Pupo, before George Pittar had a major upset win over 2023 Bells Beach winner Ethan Ewing in an all-local heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\"><strong>AAP<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-04-05\/stephanie-gilmore-beaten-by-luana-silva-at-bells-beach\/106532482\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Young Brazilian Luana Silva says she was overwhelmed to defeat one of her idols, Australian Stephanie Gilmore, at Bells Beach. Gilmore&#8217;s World Surf League (WSL) return as a full-time competitor started on the wrong note on Saturday. Silva eliminated the eight-time world surfing champion in the first round. Gilmore, a four-time winner at Bells Beach, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}