KZ: Hi Tony! What were your fave locations to skate when you started out?

T: My local skate park! The first skate park I ever rode was called Oasis in San Diego. It closed, and then I started skating another park call Del Mar Skate Ranch and that became my home away from home. I was there the moment school got out until it was closing late at night. I spent many years there. That closed, then I built my own ramp in San Diego and that was my happy place. There was a dental office near my school that had a cool curb. The street was sort of deformed because of a tree stump, and it made a little launch ramp to a curb. We use get there as much as we could until we got kicked out.

NAME GAME

Tony's name and his incred aerial tricks have led to the nickname 'The Birdman'!

MAKING HISTORY

Tony Hawk was the first skateboarder to land a 900, a trick where the skater must complete two and a half mid-air revolutions!

KZ: What skaters should K-Zoners should keep an eye out for when skateboarding hits the Olympic Games?

T: Australia has Shane O’Neill and he is going to be one of the top skaters for sure! There is so much talent out there!

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2018, Tony Hawk worked with Emojipedia to help redesign the skateboard emoji! Hawk criticised the original design, saying it looked like 'a skateboard you would buy at a department store in the 80s'. The updated design was based on Hawk's own skateboard!

An Evening with Tony Hawk is coming soon to Melbourne and Sydney!

Want to read tips and tricks from Tony Hawk? Grab the May issue of K-Zone, on sale now!