Carissa Moore will be the mother with the gold medal.
Moore, who won an Olympic gold medal in surfing during the 2020 Tokyo Games, finished fifth at the Paris Games earlier this year. Then, just days after pulling out of the 2024 Games, the 32-year-old announced her pregnancy, revealing that she was actually surfing for two.
“I can’t wait to tell my daughter one day that she was in a barrel with me at the Olympics,” Moore tells PEOPLE at the premiere of Cirque Du Soleil’Auanapointing out that she hopes her daughter will follow in her footsteps.
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Carissa Moore.
Marco Garcia/Getty
Carissa Moore announces her ‘retirement’ from competitive surfing after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Asked how soon she plans to get her daughter on a surfboard, the native Hawaiian says, “I think she’d probably start swimming first. I think dad took us in the water after a few months, so as soon as possible, really.”
The Olympian, who is due to give birth in February, showed off her baby bump as she attended an event at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel in Hawaii. If the premiere had happened a few months later, Moore says she and her entrepreneur husband, Luke Untermann, might have brought their child to the show.
“There’s so much I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to having a mini and taking her everywhere with me and being able to show her the world and hopefully fall in love with surfing like I fell in love with my dad,” she shares. “I have a feeling the adventures will be much better.”
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While Moore’s body is certainly changing, so is her appetite: “I’ve always had a sweet tooth, so when I got pregnant, I kind of switched to savory and I was like, cheese, give me cheese,” she says.
Back in January, the five-time world champion and first Olympic gold medalist in surfing announced that she was retiring from the sport. However, “retirement” is not the word she used to describe the next chapter.
“I don’t like the word retirement,” the Hawaii native said. “I like to say going off tour, or just taking a step back, or changing gears, or, like, evolving.”
After that, Moore intended to start a family with Untermann – but before starting that chapter, she knew she wanted to compete in the World Surf League Championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“Surfing is part of who I am, and always will be. This is by no means the end,” she wrote in part on Instagram alongside a video announcing the news in August.
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Source: HIS Education