Anthony (Tony) Frank Hawk Skateboard Career
Tony Hawk is a trailblazer in vertical, or "vert", skateboarding, and remains one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. He got his first skateboard at age nine, a gift from his older brother. Hawk would then begin to practice at the now-defunct Oasis Skatepark, where he began to attract attention by performing advanced maneuvers for his age. Then by the age of 12, he was already dominating amateur competitions across California.
Turning professional at just 14, Hawk quickly rose to the top; and signed with Powell Peralta professional team where he gained fame for his performances in the popular Bones Brigade videos. Hawks first ever professional victory came at the Del Mar Freestyle Contest – Pro Pool in 1982. By 16, Hawk had won 7 competitions and was widely recognized as the best competitive skateboarder in the world. With the money he made from skateboarding, Hawk bought his first house during his senior year in high school. Throughout the late 1980s, Hawk traveled the world, skating demos and contests. By the end of the decade Hawk had 31 victories including the TransWorld Skateboard Championships – Pro Half-Pipe (1986) and the Münster Monster Mastership [de] Pro Half-Pipe (1989). However by the start of the early 1990s, skateboarding had begun to develop a bad reputation which led to Hawk falling on hard times. Despite this Hawk was still destined to continue his career even refinancing his first house and launched his own skateboard company, Birdhouse Projects. In the beginning Birdhouse wasn’t making much money, however as skateboarding surged back into popularity the company became one of the most successful skateboarding brands, making $25 million annually within five years. As for Hawk’s skateboarding career itself by the time he reached 25 in 1993, he had won 49 contests.
1995 saw the first annual X Games, where Hawk competed in two of the events and won a gold medal in the skateboard vert with a record score of 97.50 for a “perfect run.” Additionally, he won a silver medal in the park competition. Hawk returned for the second annual X Games the following year and won a silver in vert. However, the 1997 X Games went better for Hawk, as he would double gold in both the vert and double vert events. With the success at that year’s nationally televised X Games, Hawk's skateboarding brand continued to skyrocket in popularity. Hawk has credited his medal wins with "bringing the needed exposure to the sport of skateboarding." The following year, in 1998, Hawk started his own skateboarding clothing line, and at that year’s X Games Hawk once again captured gold in the vert doubles and bronze in the vert. Hawk pioneered late-grab airs—which a few early grabbing pros called cheating at the time—and invented over 100 tricks, including the backside Ollie to tail, varial, frontside hurricane, rodeo flip, stalefish, and Ollie 540.
Hawk skating in 1987 (Wassenaar, Netherlands) On June 27, 1999, at that years X Games Hawk became the first skateboarder to land a "900", a trick involving the completion of two-and-a-half mid-air revolutions on a skateboard, in which he was successful on his twelfth attempt. After completing the trick, Hawk said, "This is the best day of my life." Hawk captured double gold at that years events in the vertical doubles and verts best trick. He retired from professional competition that year, but Hawk continued to appear at the annual X Games winning his 7th gold medal at the event during the vert doubles in 2000. Hawk repeat as the vert doubles winner in 2001 and take home silver in the vert best trick. The following X games Hawk won bronze in the vert best trick and gold in the vert doubles. Hawks 10th and final gold medal came at the 2003 X Games where he won the vert best trick, this would be his final X Games appearance for nearly 20 years as he retired from performing following the event. By the end of his career Hawk had participated in 103 professional contests winning 73 and finishing second in 19—a staggering record that may never be matched. He also held the title of National Skateboard Association vert skating world champion for an unprecedented 12 consecutive years from 1984-1996.
Hawk also helped mentor skateboarder and future Olympic gold medalists snowboarder Shaun White, Hawk befriended the nine-year-old White at the Encinitas, California, YMCA skate park and mentored him, helping White turn pro in skateboarding at the age of 16. On June 27, 2016, at age 48, Hawk performed what he claimed would be his final 900. In a video posted on the YouTube RIDE Channel, Hawk said, "Spencer was there on my first one, and now he was there on my last", after successfully landing a 900. Hawk was invited to US president Barack Obama's June 2009 Father's Day celebration and skated in the hallways of the nearby Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds. This was the first time anyone had skateboarded on the White House grounds with permission from officials. In 2009, Hawk was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony. As of April 2020, Hawk is sponsored by Birdhouse, Vans, Independent, Bones, and Nixon. His current Pro model shoe is the Proto. Hawk was formerly sponsored by Theeve. In July 2021, Hawk briefly ended his competitive retirement to participate in the Vert Best Trick event at that year's X Games, finishing in fourth place out of nine competitors. Hawks most recent competition appearances came at the 2023 X Games in California, where he finished 9th in the vert best trick and a 7th place finish in the same event at X Games Japan.
In an interview for the online series Free Lunch, produced by Hawk's RIDE Channel, professional skateboarder Andrew Reynolds said: Tony Hawk—he's like, basically, to me it says, "You can be a skater and take over everything and be, you know ... and use skateboarding to be a businessman, a role model to young people," um, he's just the best. And, he called my house when I was fifteen, and was, like, "Do you wanna do something with us?" not knowing anything about me.
In 2012, Reynolds recruited Hawk's son Riley, who was 19 years old at the time, for Reynolds' skateboard deck company, Baker. Hawk often posts on Twitter about encounters he has with people who do not recognize him or wonder if he is truly Tony Hawk. Various publications have speculated about Hawk's motivation: The cynical among us might argue that as he slides inexorably out of cultural relevancy, Tony Hawk desperately needs to remind us that he's still here, still famous. Others might say he's trying to communicate that he's fed up with it all, his stream of tweets a not-so-subtle hint... But no. Tony Hawk... thinks it is the funniest thing in the world, and he will keep thinking it is the funniest thing in the world, and keep tweeting about it, for the rest of his life.
