No one denies that Joel Parkinson is a title contender. He has been a threat to the crown since he first qualified for the big game in 2001. The gregarious Aussie with the contagious grin has talent to burn, and has finished runner-up to the title twice already in his young career. Long-heralded as one of the greatest natural talents to come out of Oz, "Parko" is the epitome of style and grace – blending beautiful carves and progressive maneuvers with seamless flow.

Parkinson constantly pushes the envelope of high-performance surfing, and works closely with JS to fine tune his competition quiver. Not only does Joel test his own boards, but all models in the JS range have been tested by both Parko and JS, along with the rest of the JS team. Models such as XR, CV8, V2.1, Blak Box, Nitro (to only name a few) have been given the JP seal of approval.

During the last few years on the WCT, Joel has finished consistently in the top 5, and the 2008 season saw him surf in most event finals through out the year. Parko topped it off with scoring a perfect heat (scoring 2 x 10 point rides in one heat) and becoming the only person to do so at Pipe, as well as taking out the Vans Triple Crown in Hawaii.

2009 was Parko's best WCT start to date. He won the first 3 events on the run and looked to be Parko's year. He was heavily focused, training harder than ever and pretty much only injury could stop him..... and it did. With a mid season trip to Bali, Joel suffered a major ankle injury that would plague him for the rest of the year. Consequently, he finished runner up to Mick during yet another epic showdown at Pipe.

Now fully recovered, Parko is back on deck and is in strong contention for the next world title.