Joel Parkinson was born on April 10, 1981, in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. He started surfing early with his father and friends Dean Morrison and Mick Fanning.
"Parko," one of the Coolangatta kids, developed his surfing skills and quickly won the ASP World Junior Championship.
In 1999, Joel Parkinson won the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, becoming the youngest rider to win the African surf contest.
The 1.83-meter regular-footer conquered the Triple Crown of Surfing in 2008, 2009, and 2010, in which he scored two perfect 10s in a heat at Pipeline.
The man who loves football, fishing, and cars is featured in the surf "Free As A Dog" as the main surf star.
Parkinson also finished three times as runner-up in the ASP World Tour (2002, 2004, and 2009).
The Gold Coast surfer is married to Monica, his high school sweetheart, and is the loving father of Evie, Macy, and Mahli.
Joel Parkinson has secured his first world surfing title at the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons.