This year has already been unforgettable for the man who hears daily, "Hey, has anyone ever told you, you resemble Tony Hawk?" Within this year, he has witnessed the release of a documentary about his life by HBO titled ‘Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off’, presented an award at the Oscars, and all the while managed to recover from a broken leg, returning to skateboarding in just 3 weeks.
With the Birdman marking his 54th birthday on May 12th, we are going to reflect briefly on some of his numerous impressive career milestones.
Tony Hawk began skateboarding at the age of 9, which his mother recognized as an excellent way to channel his abundant childhood energy. By the age of 11, Tony was already entering competitions. He became one of the original team riders for the Bones Brigade, managed by Stacy Peralta, who noticed Tony’s talent early on in competitions.
After turning professional and enjoying financial success from his signature board sales, skateboarding's popularity began to decline in the early '90s. This led many skateboarders to branch out and establish their own skate companies. Tony Hawk founded Birdhouse Skateboards with fellow Bones Brigade member Per Welinder in 1992, and the company faced challenges for a few years until the launch of The X Games in 1995, which revitalized skateboarding for a new generation.
During this period, Tony Hawk transitioned from being a professional skateboarder to a skateboarding icon, providing him with a platform to showcase his remarkable talent. In the 17 X Games he took part in, he collected 16 medals, ten of them gold. The trick that truly secured his place in history was achieving the first "900" at the X Games in 1999. September 1999 marked another significant career milestone with the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
The game had a swift development process, starting in 1998, but by involving Tony Hawk, he was able to influence the tricks and characters included, ensuring they all received royalties and could select their tricks and attire captured in the game. The game was released to critical acclaim and was a tremendous success. The gameplay was praised for being the best representation of skateboarding, and the soundtrack is still acclaimed as one of the greatest game soundtracks ever.
The success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater led to a thriving series of sequels and made Tony Hawk a globally recognized name. During this time, Tony also founded the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2002 in response to the shortage of safe and legal skateparks in America, helping to provide funding and support to 596 skatepark projects.
Tony Hawk has been one of the finest ambassadors for skateboarding, from being officially permitted to skate at the White House when he met Barack Obama in 2009, to spearheading the movement for the skateboard emoji to resemble a proper skateboard, now modeled on his own board. Although Tony has officially "retired" from competitive skateboarding (despite briefly pausing his retirement to compete in the 2021 X Games best Vert Trick competition), he continues to live and breathe the sport, serving as a guiding force and inspiration for future generations of skateboarders.