13-year-old Leihani Zoric: 'I don't want to participate, I want to dominate'

Leihani Zoric, a 13-year-old Indigenous Australian surfer, will compete this week in Peru at the International Surfing Association World Surfing Games, an Olympic qualification event on the road to Los Angeles 2028. The Yued rider has progressed from junior world champion to a place on Australia’s senior team and said: "I don’t want to participate, I want to dominate."

Zoric grew up watching the likes of Stephanie Gilmore and Tyler Wright, and she names them as early inspirations. As a year eight student from Broken Head in New South Wales, she entered the ISA junior world titles after failing to qualify for the under-16s, received a wildcard into the under-18 division and won, becoming the youngest ever junior world champion. That victory preceded her selection for Australia’s senior national squad alongside Gilmore, Wright, Ethan Ewing, Liam O’Brien and George Pittar.

At the ISA World Surfing Games in Peru she will face opponents many years her senior; the article notes some competitors are twice her age and that Gilmore is 38. On that challenge Zoric said: "I’m taking it as an opportunity to get to surf against these girls, and hopefully beat them," she says. "They’re all very good surfers, but I believe that anything is possible. I back my abilities and my skill – I’m not nervous, I’m more excited to have an opportunity to show them how I surf and prove that I can surf against people like that."

Her junior world title carried historical significance for Indigenous representation: the win made her Australia’s first Aboriginal world surfing champion, and she has twice won the Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles. Zoric was also named junior sportsperson of the year at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Awards, and she linked those achievements to her identity: "It means so much to me because my culture is a huge part of my identity," she says. "To have accomplished that is amazing," she added, and affirmed: "I’m so proud to be a proud Yued girl."

Outside competition, Zoric has produced surf media, including a short film shot in the Maldives described in the article as "mesmerising," and she has set her sights on the World Surf League. The piece reports she sees 2029, when she will be 16, as a possible first year on the WSL, while acknowledging the qualifying route via regional events and the Challenger Series is demanding. On that process she said: "But it’s a long process, so I’m just taking it one step at a time and staying in the present."

Zoric has signalled high ambitions for any future WSL campaign and for the Olympics, combining specific competitive goals with caution about readiness. She told the reporters: "I want to go on the world tour, but I don’t want to just go there to make up the numbers," and affirmed, "I want to go there and be world No 1 in my first year, win events, win world titles. I don’t want to be there to participate, I want to be there to dominate." She also said she does not want to rush into big waves unprepared: "I don’t want to get there and be like, ‘I’m not ready to surf 10-ft Teahupo’o, I’m not ready to surf Pipeline.'" and added a personal contingency: "If surfing doesn’t work out for me, I want to be a doctor."

Australia’s performance in Peru carries potential selection consequences: if the Australian team do well in Peru, an additional team spot might open up an opportunity for Zoric, and the article notes surfing’s Olympic qualification pathway is complex with some places allocated via WSL results. On her long-term aim she said: "My number one goal for the next few years is to go to the LA Olympics and win gold," and she described the current events as steps toward that objective: "It’s all part of the process, and each step is hopefully going to lead to winning gold at LA," she adds.