Occy (my hero) has retired!!!
In der dritten Runde des Pipe Masters flog er gegen seinen Landsmann knapp raus und beendete damit seine sagenhafte Contest Karriere. There goes my hero!!!! Watch him as he goes....
Occys timeline (aus:
http://www.billabong.com.au/occy/) Auch Seite checken!
No Aussie surf icon has captured the hearts and minds of as many people as Mark Occhilupo. The man will go down as one of this country's all time sporting legends.
June 16, 1966
A young fella by the name of Mark Occhilupo emerges into the world, what will the future hold in store for him…
1975
His long and turbulent career began at the age of 9 when he first began surfing the beachies of Cronulla near his home in Kurnell in southern Sydney.
1982
It wasn't until he flagged school at year 10 and packed his bags for tour life at the age of 16 that he began turning heads. The blonde-headed goofy footer was being earmarked to shake the pro surfing scene in the following years to come.
1987
With a strong reputation now in place, the now 21-year-old scored a part in the Hollywood surf flick 'North Shore'. Occ found himself setting the pace for world surfing along with another legend of that time, Tom Curren.
1988
But from around now, things began to fall apart. Occy slowly dropped out of world surfing and disappeared into oblivion. Over the next several years he battled obesity and depression as well as other personal struggles. It looked as if Occ was throwing away one of the brightest possible careers ever held by an athlete.
1995
By the time 1995 had come around, he was back. Through rigorous training, dedication and a heap of bloody hard work he made the Billabong Challenge his own welcome back party to the delight of admirers and fans all over the world.
1996
This year he rated 20th on the WQS and also won the Pipe contest after fighting his way through the trials. During his resurgence, 'The Raging Bull' teamed up with Jack McCoy to produce 'Occumentary', a full-featured film capturing his life as a surfer.
1997
The year ended with Occy sitting at number 2 behind a Mr. Kelly Slater. Not only was he back in the game, he was desperately close to a world title and regaining that dominating level of surfing he was once renowned for.
1999
After a career with more ups and downs than a Dreamworld roller coaster, it had finally peaked. Mark Occhilupo had won the world title, a long time overdue, many people thought.
2003
Occy's partner, Mae, gives birth to baby Jay. Occy is now a daddy. Jay would later be christened on the sand of J-Bay.
2004
Occy and Mae marry. He's now also a husband. The wedding list on the day read like a 'Who's who of pro surfing', with fellow 'CT shredder Luke Egan being best man and long time mate, Margo, groomsman.
2005
At the beginning of 2005, the man announced that this year would be his last. Having accomplished everything he started out to do and also to finish on a high note while his surfing is still strong were reasons cited for his retirement. Pressure mounted for Occ to stay among his Top 45 mates, pressure that eventually amounted to the withdrawal of his retirement.
2006
Wrapping 2005 up in 19th position, Occy entered last year carrying with him the knowledge that, whilst he may now be the oldest surfer ever to surf on the tour, he still had every right to be there.
Despite being more than twice the age of some of his adversaries, Occy proved there was still a lot of life left in the old dog, pulling a third place finish at his most consistent of venues, Bells Beach. A collection of 17th placings and a no-show for the Nova Schin Festival, Brazil, dragged Occy the wrong way on the ladder and he slipped down to 26th place, where he remained for the rest of the year. But, unlike a large handful of his much younger rivals, he remained on tour.
2007 sees Occy back in the ranks, ready to fight another day and still not retired.
earning the ropes against some of the sport’s formative athletes, Toms Curren and Carroll, Sunny Garcia and the like, has given Occy that distinctive ‘80s powerhouse approach. He perhaps may not have the most well versed repertoire, but give Occy the open faces of Bells or the endless walls of J-Bay, and he’ll still be able to bury rail and push more water around than the vast majority of his peers and, more often than not, come out on top.
So long as Occy’s still in the water, power surfing will never die.
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Thema: WCT NEWS: Pipeline (Gelesen 9427 mal)
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