Stig Nygaard/Wikimedia Commons
For anyone who has ever stayed up with friends past 3am playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on PS1, eating Doritos and chugging Mountain Dew…this one’s for you.
We sat down with the pioneer, the legend, the Birdman himself. 10 X Games gold medals (16 total), the first ever documented 900, and a multi-million dollar video game series later, here we are.
Zach: So, man…today we are joined by Tony Hawk. How’s it going?
Tony Hawk: Good, thank you. I’m actually getting ready to head out to Paris here in a couple days.
Zach: Yeah, skateboarding is now entering its second year as an Olympic event. First and foremost, how proud are you – even just in your lifetime to see all the progress that’s been made for this sport?
Tony: I mean, it’s unreal. When we were kids, skating was the furthest thing from cool you could do and parents discouraged you from it altogether. It was hard to find any validation or any sort of glimpse of a future beyond just doing it as a kid. And now it’s a legitimate career. It’s a legitimate lifestyle. It’s kind of permeated our mainstream culture, and I’m just happy that I get to still be here to witness all of it and still get to skate.
For me, that’s the dream. Like the idea that I’m still here doing it and I get to skate among the best of the best, and even my peers are still around, it’s wild.
Zach: Absolutely. Now, let’s go back. When you were a kid, you played baseball but ended up quitting for skateboarding. What was it about skating that kind of flipped a switch for you, that maybe other sports didn’t?
Tony: The idea that I could do it on my own terms, and that I didn’t have to adhere to some strict practice regimen. I didn’t have to rely on the team for my success. I mean, really, I didn’t have to play by the rules. I think that was it. It’s as much an art form as it is a sport. So you do it in your own style and your own voice. There’s a very strong, passionate community that surrounds it, but it’s like this band of misfits. So everyone’s having fun in their own way.
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