21-Year-Old Surfer Caroline Marks Wins World Title — Next Stop, Olympic Gold: ‘I Can Do It’ (Exclusive)

Caroline Marks goes for the gold!

The 21-year-old surfer won the coveted World Surf League 2023 title at the weekend, beating five-time winner and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore — and after upsetting the reigning champion at the Rip Curl WSL Final, Marks is hungry for a medal of his own.

“I believe in myself that I can do it,” Marks tells PEOPLE exclusively on Monday. “There is no more powerful feeling to win a competition and win gold representing your country. That would be really special.”

While on her way to victory in the middle of the final event held at Lower Trestles, Marks provisionally qualified for the 2024 Olympics. That means the athlete – who made history as the youngest female surfer to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games – will make her Olympic debut in her second year, representing Team USA alongside Moore.

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“Winning gold is my absolute dream — and I love Tahiti,” Marks says of the 2024 Olympic surfing venue. [contest] in Teahupoʻo”, where the surfing competition will be held next year.

While Marks is certainly enjoying a “feeling of euphoria” after her recent win, she tells PEOPLE that she “definitely wants” to start thinking about the Olympics. Especially since “Teahupoʻo has so many different faces,” she says.

“As many times as I can go out there to practice and learn about the wave and just feel more comfortable out there, I’ll take every opportunity,” she says. “Hopefully there will be a little bit of a wave in the off-season and I can jump in there and practice … I’ll definitely be looking at it 100%.”

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While the dedicated athlete is looking ahead to the future, she admits she also wants to “enjoy the moment” of winning her first world title. – Right now is a special moment in my life.

Even days after his big win, Marks tells PEOPLE that he “doesn’t know if it’s completely sunk in.” She explains, “Ever since I started surfing, I’ve worked towards that goal every day of my life and it’s come true.”

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“It was literally a dream scenario,” says Marks — especially when he faced major champion Moore. “I knew that to win the title I would have to go against Carissa and I wanted to go against Carissa,” she says.

“For me, she pushed the progression of women’s surfing and had such a stellar year and was dominant for so many years – I was up against her for my first CT [Championship Tour] win, and now I was up against her for my first world title,” says Marks.

As for her mindset heading into the WSL Finals, and certainly the 2024 Olympics next summer — Marks says, “I want to beat the best to be the best.”

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Source: HIS Education