Kelly Slater is the 10x surfing world champion. Everywhere he goes, fans mob him and cameras click, but he graciously signs autographs and poses for pictures, sometimes spending a few hours after surfing to be sure all his fans, especially the kids, can have a little piece of him to take home.
I'm sure all the attention can get suffocating at times, and as a result, you don't see Kelly practicing on the competition waves or chilling on the beach watching all the action. Some of the other guys get to do all that and still have some anonymity. Fame has its price as they say.
When Kelly hits the beach, the crowds form and men and women go running to get a closer look. 10x champions are rare in any sport, so to see someone at the top of their game is a real treat. Kelly doesn't disappoint. His warmup is zenlike, as one would assume it would have to be given that he's trying to get his gameface on with a bunch of people standing around him taking pictures and trying to talk to him. He also brings it on the waves like nobody else. He scored the only perfect 10 wave of the competition and broke his board clean in half trying to win the finals (he lost--more on the winner later) on the very last wave with a massive aerial move.
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