Tony Hawk

In the Beginning

Tony Hawk, the most famous skateboarder ever, was born Anthony Frank Hawk on May 12, 1968, in San Diego, California to Frank and Nancy Hawk. He had three siblings—Lenore, Patricia and Steve. As a child, Hawk was considered intelligent, with an IQ of 144, yet high-strung and hyperactive. In short, Hawk was challenging for adults to manage. At the age of 9, his older brother, Steve, gave him his first skateboard, a used blue fiberglass board. Hawk’s father built a skating ramp in the backyard where Hawk started practicing for up to six hours a day. When he outgrew the ramp, he began practicing at skateparks near his home. A short three years later, at the age of 12, he had landed his first sponsor, Dogtown skateboards and was winning amateur contests throughout California. At 14, he became a professional skateboarder and by the time he was 16 years old, he was considered one of the best skateboarders in the entire world.

Career Accomplishments

Tony Hawk’s professional skateboarding career lasted for 17 years, during which he won 73 skateboarding contests and placed second in 19. That record will almost certainly never be matched. Hawk competed in the first Extreme Games, later called the X Games, in 1995 and won a gold medal—a feat he repeated in the 1997 X Games. It was his success at the X Games, and the media attention that followed, that made him a household name.

Most Known For

Hawk’s ability to perform impressive stunts fueled his fame. He created the amazing "900" trick, in which the skateboarder rotates 900 degrees (about two and a half turns) while in mid-air. He performed the trick successfully at the 1999 X Games before retiring from the competition. He also started a skateboarding company, Birdhouse Projects, in the 1990s when the skateboarding craze was waning. The company struggled until the rise of extreme sports resurrected skateboarding.

Where Is He Now?

Hawk still rides, gives skateboarding demonstrations, and devises new tricks. He also still runs Birdhouse and has a line of video games and skateboarding videos that he teamed up with Activision to create in 1999. He also still runs an extreme sports tour called Tony Hawk's Boom Boom HuckJam Tour, which he started in 2002. The tour boasts some of the best skateboarders, BMXers and freestyle motocross riders and plays in large arenas and their parks across the United States. Hawk also hosts a weekly radio program on the Sirius XM satellite radio station. In addition, Hawk runs the Tony Hawk Foundation, a non-profit group that provides grants and technical assistance for new skateboarding parks, especially in low-income areas.