'You can't be afraid': The 'unfinished feelings' that sparked Stephanie Gilmore's next chapter

World Surf League Champion Stephanie Gilmore has just been given an honour reserved for a precious few.

The 38-year-old has been immortalised in one of the most iconic ways possible, as an official Barbie doll.

In conjunction with International Women's Day – and her announcement she'd be re-entering competitive surfing after two years in retirement – Gilmore spoke to nine.com.au about her trailblazing career.

Watch the video above.

"I always thought that I would have some time off and then just see how I felt [after]," she explained or her return to surfing.

"If I was watching the events from afar and feeling like I was missing it, or still had that inkling to want to get back to it, I would."

She admitted the inkling in question had arisen as she watched a new generation of talent emerging onto the scene in her absence.

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"Part of me still had this desire to try and compete with these awesome young women. So yeah, that was was kind of it. Simple," she said.

Gilmore is set to come up against top-ranked Aussie young gun Molly Picklum, 22, along with world Champion Caity Simmers, 20.

Ultimately, she'd always felt she had "a few years left of surfing" in her despite retiring and the perfect chance came up.

In November she accepted a wild card invite – a special invitation for non-qualifying surfers to compete in Championship Tour events – bringing her two-year hiatus from the sport to an end.

She cited fellow female athletes as inspiration for her timely return, including Venus Williams and winter Olympics Alpine Ski racer Lindsay Vonn.

She believes that if you still have unfinished feelings, you can go back and try again.

"If that pure love and the pure intentions and passion for what you're doing is still there, then you can't be afraid of this journey that you're going on," she advised.

"If you're fit and healthy and you have that opportunity presented to you, then it's up to you to make a decision, and you can't really think about what others may think."

Gilmore admits there's a pressure on women, particularly in sport, to try and balance family and their career.

"I mean, obviously, for women, it's the timing thing. You do have a bit of a biological clock," the 38-year-old admitted.

"But I think the beauty of this day and age that we're in is that there's so many women having children much later in life, and they're strong, healthy women and having strong, healthy babies."

Gilmore has been vocal in the past about the choice athletes face between excelling in their sport, or starting a family – a choice her male counterparts hardly face.

But she says with increased focus on women's health taking the pressure off, she's no longer concerned about the choice to prioritise her career.

"It's a great time to really put your career as far as you want it, and then move into family life. We're very much at a time where you're really just able to choose," she said.

She went on to reflect on the overall treatment of women within the sport – particularly during various advertisement campaigns.

"For me, surfing is sexy," she explained.

"But I think it is unfortunate that there was a period of time there where, I guess, it felt like to capture the imaginations of customers and brands, you had to pose in a more sexual way."

While there were a few photoshoots over the years that Steph "didn't really feel comfortable in," she later learned – in her own way – to be "comfortable with saying no."

It was this same backbone, developed during her 17 years as a professional surfer, that eventually lead to monumental changes for women within the sport.

Gilmore successfully campaigning for equal pay to male surfers in a deal that came into effect in 2019.

Previously women were paid, on average, about half the sum of their male counterparts in prize money.

Thanks to Gilmore's efforts – and the efforts of generations of female surfers to come before her – women's surfing went from being viewed as a "side-show" to the men's events, to being viewed on equal footing.

"In the past, it was always about putting the women in less quality waves, but, now we're really sharing this great quality surf, and the women's performance is really raised because of it."

In that vein, she revealed that she worked with Mattel to fashion a Barbie in her likeness in the hope that it would push young women to try their hand at the sport.

"I really believe in the power of sport for young women," she said.

"It's so good to encourage women to get into sports and activities so yeah, it's a great message to be a part of."

This year's Barbie Role Models honourees also include the likes of Tennis trailblazer Serena Williams, research astronaut Kelly Girardi and footballer Chloe Kelly.

Gilmore is set to make her grand return to competitive surfing at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on April 1.

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