Tony Hawk: "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine skateboarding would become an Olympic sport"

Tony Hawk, otherwise known as The Birdman, is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential skateboarders of all time. Since his arrival to the professional stage aged just 14 years old, hes been crowned the National Skateboard Association world champion a staggering 12 consecutive times. His skateboarding career reached an all-time high in 1999, when he became the first person in history to complete the "900": a unique trick consisting of two and a half turns along the horizontal axis of the skateboard. In 2016, at 42 years old, he managed to complete the trick for a third time. 2021 marked a monumental year for Hawk and the skateboarding community: it was the first time that Skateboarding was introduced as an Olympic sport.

Aside from skating, Hawk is well known for his dedication to charitable causes. His Skatepark project, which has overseen the creation of 37,637 skatepark projects in all 50 states across the United States, has deservedly has garnered huge international acclaim. He also has his own skateboarding videogame series titled The Tony Hawk Series.

Tony took part in this interview as a part of a preview of the Aureus World Sportsperson of the Year Awards. In the action sports category of this year, Japanese skater Momiji Nishiya who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, has been nominated for the award.