Bells Beach has taken a fearful toll this year on Australian surfing star Sally Fitzgibbons.
Along with her badly-cut foot, Fitzgibbons revealed after bowing out in Monday's quarter-finals that she also had to battle back spasms.
American Lakey Peterson beat Fitzgibbons to end the Australian's bid for a third Rip Curl Pro title.
Fitzgibbons also slipped to second on the world rankings behind compatriot Stephanie Gilmore.
On Wednesday, Fitzgibbons fell awkwardly in a heat and the board fin punctured her left foot.
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The wound needed three stitches and she was limping noticeably two days later when she won in the fourth round.
Then on Sunday, Fitzgibbons suffered the back injury.
"What a wild ride ... it's all character-building though," she said of her week at Bells.
"All these things accumulated to just be like 'no matter what happened before, I'm still going to paddle out and give myself a shot'.
"It was a really close match-up in the quarter.
"Just having the foot, and having to hobble around on that, the back flared up yesterday."
Fitzgibbons said tennis great Andre Agassi gave her some inspiration as she prepared for Monday's competition.
"It's more accepting a level of pain," she said.
"I do remember one time, I read a book about Andre Agassi ... I don't think he played a game of tennis towards the end of his career when he wasn't in (back) pain.
"That's the ride of an athlete, you see it across all sports, you have those injuries and you just have to keep powering on."
Fitzgibbons said the demands of pro surfing meant it was rare to be 100 per cent fit and healthy.
"With the way our sport is, what you are lacking maybe in physical ability, or you have these back things or cut feet, you can make up with good strategy, good ticker and just trusting in the mind and decision making," she said
"This wasn't my year down here at Bells, but I came out with so many tales to tell.
"It was a tough day."
Fitzgibbons came into the Rip Curl Pro sharing the world rankings lead with Gilmore, who lost the final as American Courtney Conlogue successfully defended her title.
