AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
For many who love the sport, skateboarding was defined by this moment in 1999.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Nine hundred.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Nine hundred. Yeah (ph).
RASCOE: Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk landed what the industry knows as the 900. He was 31 years old.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Tony Hawk, everybody.
TONY HAWK: Thank you. This is the best day of my life, I swear to God.
RASCOE: The 900 is 2 1/2 spins in the air, and it had never been done before. Last week, the skateboard Hawk used to land that 900 was sold at auction for $1.15 million. But what did it take to make that 900 happen?
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HAWK: My name is Tony Hawk, and I have been a professional skateboarder for over 40 years now. I don't think I've said that out loud yet (laughter).
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RASCOE: Hawk says he'd been dreaming about the trick for years.
HAWK: Let's just say that the first 540 spin on a skateboard in the air was done in 1984. And then the following year, I did a 720, which is a double spin in the air. And so there was this progression of spinning that was happening, and getting to the 900 - it was so daunting.
RASCOE: He says he almost landed it in 1996, but ended up with a broken rib instead.
HAWK: And that was, to be honest, kind of the time where I thought, maybe it's not possible. And I just put it on the shelf.
RASCOE: But not for long. Hawk was soon back at it.
HAWK: I would go all in on it, try it for a few weeks, every session. And it beats you up. I mean, the crashes on it are pretty traumatic, so you can only try it for so long before you just kind of give up with your body.
RASCOE: Until the X Games Best Trick Contest of 1999.
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HAWK: The announcer actually kind of planted the seed. And he said, hey, what about that 900 you've been trying for so long? I just thought, why would you put me on the spot here? But I tried one, mostly to appease him and the crowd. And then I tried it again, and those two attempts were actually the best that I had ever done at that point. And something clicked.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Are you kidding me? Yes.
RASCOE: Hawk says he didn't expect it to be such a big deal.
HAWK: And then the next day, I heard it was live on ESPN. And I started getting stopped on the street and in airports, and people would just point at me and say, 900. And I was like, this is surreal. Like, I just could never imagine that skateboarding would ever be recognized like this.
RASCOE: Skateboarding has come a long way since then. In 2021, Gui Khury from Brazil landed a 1080. He was just 12 years old. Hawk was there to watch it.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: You landed a 1080 in front of Tony Hawk?
GUI KHURY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Yep.
RASCOE: Hawk says he's proud of the legacy of that first 900.
HAWK: I love it. That's why I chose skateboarding. That's why that - I've never quit. I just love that it continues to progress. You know, I'm past the years of trying to push those limits. But the fact that I still get to be here and see it and participate in it is a dream come true.
RASCOE: Hawk may not be trying new tricks, but he still skates. He threw down another 900 a few years ago at the age of 48. And last week, he got to bring down the gavel when his board, known as the Birdhouse Falcon 2, was sold to an anonymous buyer.
(CHEERING)
RASCOE: Some of the proceeds will go to his nonprofit, The Skatepark Project.
That was legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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