Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk began skateboarding when he was nine after his brother bought him a used skateboard and his father built a ramp in their backyard. When he turned eleven, he won his first contest. Dogtown Skateboards sponsored him when he turned 12. He became pro by the age of fourteen. By the time he was sixteen he was known as the best skateboarder in the world. He bought his own house at the young age of seventeen. In the following 17 years, Hawk has entered an estimated 103 pro contests. He as won 73 of them, and been named second in 19 of them. So far he has the best record in skateboarding history. He really hit the big time on July 27, 1999, when he was the first skater to land a 900 in a competition. He landed the trick, which involves completing two-and-a-half rotations, on his twelfth attempt. After accomplishing the trick, he said, "This is the best day of my life!". He succeeded in performing the trick again during X Games 2001. He then retired at the age of 31. However it should be clarified that he hasn’t stopped skating, he simply does not compete anymore. One of the reasons he decided to retire was because by completing the 900, he had finished the last trick on his wish list of tricks. The list also included ollie 540, kickflip 540, varial 720 and the 900. http://www.tonyhawk.com/bio.html

Merchandise

Tony Hawk started Birdhouse Skateboards in 1994 to produce various skateboards and other products. He also created his own production company known as 900 Films. Hawk's clothing line, Hawk Clothing, sells apparel and shoes at Kohl's department stores.

In 1999 Activision released the first in the series of Tony Hawk video games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The original game's popularity led to numerous sequels which appeared on several gaming platforms such as the PlayStation and Xbox. The 10th edition of the series, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, was released in October, 2007.Tony Hawk v3.0: Tony Hawk Bio