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Tony Hawk Skateboards
Tony Hawk was born Anthony Frank Hawk was born in San Diego, California on May 12, 1968. As a child, Tony was always taking risks and trying new things. He was a gifted student, placed in advanced classes at a very young age. His future in skateboarding was apparent at the ripe age of nine, when in 1977, Tony’s brother gave him his first skateboard. A mere three years later, Tony found a sponsor, and in 1982 his gift came to fruition when he turned professional. Just two years following that, Tony was ranked number 1, not in a youth league, but among all professional skaters.
Tony Hawk was married in 1990, had a son in 1992 and was also divorced that same year. This was a difficult time in Tony’s life. His personal life was in shambles, the skating industry was drying up and losing popularity, and after a bumpy attempt at starting his own skateboard company, Tony was about to drop out of the business all together by the mid-90s. Suddenly everything picked up again. The industry exploded and his business took off. He was selling products like crazy, and although he was “retired” from competitive skating, he marketed his past accomplishments very successfully. Every member of the new generation of skateboarders knew his name.
In 1996, Tony Hawk remarried and following a good two years, 1998 saw the release of the Hawk Clothing line. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game had its release on the PlayStation not much later. Before his retirement in 1991, he won 72 out of the 103 professional competitions he participated in, which amounts to 70%. No one in the industry of skateboarding has even been able to approach a percentage like this. Not to mention 19 more of those competitions he came in second. One of his signature accomplishments, the 900, was achieved by Tony in one of his final competitions. He was the first to do it, and only a select few have succeeded at imitating it since.
Because Tony Hawk no longer skates, he does not currently have a sponsor. He now spends his time balancing his business life with his life as a father of the children from his second marriage (though he was divorced in 2004). His charity, the Tony Hawk Foundation, also takes up some of his time. The foundation gives money to non-profit organizations to build skate parks in low-income areas. Though Tony’s “glory days” are behind him, he still stands as the most successful skateboarder ever and has continued to help benefit the industry.
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