Stephanie Gilmore underlines surfing greatness with record eighth world title

• No 5 seed beats Carissa Moore at WSL Finals to claim title
• Australian now has one more world title than Layne Beachley

Stephanie Gilmore has made surfing history, becoming the first woman to win eight world titles. The Australian beat Hawaiian great Carissa Moore, the defending champion, two heats to nil on Thursday at Lower Trestles in southern California.

It was a dream match-up between Gilmore and Moore, the five-time world champion. Gilmore was in tears when she won the second heat in the best-of-three final 15.23 to 11.97, having taken out the opening heat 15.00 to 10.90.