By DAVID FISCHER
June 27, 1999
SAN FRANCISCO-He had tried thetrick for several years, never landingit, and in the process had suffered crackedribs, several concussions, a back injuryand the loss of a handful of teeth. Hisattempts to become the first skateboarderto complete a 900, a dangerous two-and-ahalfrevolution spin off a vertical rampcalled a halfpipe, had all ended in painfulfailure. "Some tricks you think you willnever get," the world's most famous skateboarderis fond of saying about his workethic. "All you can do is keep at it."Tonight, in the sixth X Games at Pier 30overlooking San Francisco Bay, TonyHawk of San Diego became the first skateboarderever to land the 900, his sport'sequivalent of the four-minute mile.
He was locked in a friendly battle withfour of his toughest competitors-AndyMacdonald, Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasekand Neal Hendrix-all daredevil balletdancers on urethane wheels hoping tocapture the X Games' coveted best trickmedal. On his first try at the 900, Hawkcame up short on his revolutions. Hefailed again on his second, third, fourthand fifth attempts. Twice he landed on hisboard, only to have it slide out from underhim. For Hawk, whose credo is never say"last try," the near misses only fueled hisdesire to reach his personal Holy Grail.
By this point, his four chief rivals hadstopped competing, choosing to watchHawk get into "the zone." In skateboarding'spremier event of vert jumping, Hawkis the only man to watch. And the fourwere banging their boards on the ramp inthunderous applause as he kept climbingup the stairs after each of the failedattempts, which by now had reached 10. "Isaw him when he did the kick-flip 540 forthe first time," Hendrix told ESPN. "Ithought that was great. But this just blowsthat moment away."
Hawk, 27, has been wowing crowdsfor more than 15 years with his skateboardingmagic. He was dubbed a prodigyby Sports Illustrated at 18 during thesport's Dark Ages, and has since wonskateboarding competitions worldwide-by best reckoning, 73 of 103 pro contests.He gave an underground sport a face for anation of scabby-kneed kids, while inventingnearly 80 aerial tricks, including theMadonna (because it takes your breathaway). Though he was the first boarder toturn the 720 in competition, the 900 was adifferent story-two 360's and a 180.
Tonight at Pier 30 on his 11th try, heseemed to defy gravity, launching himselfhigh above the halfpipe. Spiraling withgymnastic skill, a twirling mass somersaultingtwo and a half rotations, he landednearly perfectly on his waiting skateboard,his feet seemingly glued to it. Helightly touched the ground with his righthand, then rose up, riding the trick outclean. There was a wild ovation from thecapacity crowd of 8,000 on the pier. Theother skaters jumped to the bottom of thehalfpipe and lifted Hawk until he seemedto soar above them.
"This is the best day of my life, I swearto God!" Hawk said through the publicaddress system. "I couldn't have done itwithout you [fans]."
Tony Hawk retired from competitionafter these X Games, when sales ofHawk-branded items had alreadygrossed more than $250 million annually.The "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" videogame series has generated about $450million in sales since its introductionin the fall of 1999.
Rob McConnaughy
Tony Hawk, the Babe Ruth of skateboarding, performing the first 900 at the sixth X Games in San Francisco. The risky two-and-a-half-revolution off a halfpipe took him years and a few teeth to accomplish.
Runners Up 1988: Mike Tyson (see Nov. 22), having stated that his only purpose in the ring wasto inflict pain, beat Michael Spinks, looking like a deer in the headlights, intosubmission in 1 minute 31 seconds of the first round of their bout for theunified world heavyweight title in Atlantic City. The knockout was the fourthquickest in heavyweight championship history.
1972: Left-winger Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks (see March 12) became thefirst superstar to leave the N.H.L. for the upstart World Hockey Association,joining the Winnipeg Jets as a player-coach. The 33-year-old Hull got a 10-yearcontract worth at least $2.5 million-far from a princely sum a decade later.
1992: Dan O'Brien, the world decathlon champion from Idaho and the focus of a $25million Reebok ad campaign aimed at the Barcelona Games, failed to clear the15-foot-9-inch minimum height in the pole vault in three attempts at theOlympic Trials in New Orleans. Amazingly-and alarmingly for Reebok-he didnot make the Olympic team.
