There are a lot of short videos out there that show low-res clips of this event. This isn't one of them.
On June 28th,
1999,
Tony Hawk made history. He completed a 900-deg. rotation on a skateboard.
No one had ever landed a 900, not in competition, not in practice, not in their backyard, not even in their dreams.
Late in the evening on the last day of the best trick skateboard portion of the X-Games,
Tony tried a 900. He missed. It was his second run. As he prepared for his third run, the crowd of 5,
000 began to chant: 900, 900, 900 He smiled a little bit, dropped into the pipe, and missed.
When he got up, he looked grim, he looked determined, and he looked confident. He climbed the stairs, and dropped into the pipe.
Official competition rules allow three attempts, this was his fourth. No one cared. The crowd stomped and chanted: 900, 900, 900 He missed.
When he got up, the camera showed a close-up on his face, I felt his intensity through the camera. He climbed the stairs and stood on the edge of the pipe, 5,000 people were on their feet screaming as loud as they could: To-ny, To-ny, To-ny Every other competitor was banging the rails with their boards. The look in his eyes was so intense and focused, you could tell there was no way he was going to miss this again.
He missed.
Again, He missed.
and missed.
And missed again.
At the top of the pipe, as he stared into space, everyone touched him. There were eight or ten hands on his head or shoulders, there were 5,000 people in the stands; Tony Hawk was absolutely and completely alone. He dropped into the pipe, up once
Down. Up. Down. Up, and he spun for hours. And he landed it! 900-deg. 2 and one half rotations completed.
The other competitors dropped into the pipe and dog-piled him, every one either laughing or crying.
When the dust settled there was no medal awarded, all of the other competitors withdrew their runs, and
Tonys was not an official run. But that doesnt matter, because Tony Hawk showed us all what it means to be a competitor, and the other participants showed us what it means to pay your respects.
If you have a chance, watch the X-Games. If you don't see something familiar, you will at least see a hero.
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The music is by
Yello. ("Do it!" "Homage to the
Mountain" and "
On the Run")
It's old-school techno.
---
This is the first video that
I've found myself in the position of just deleting most of the comments that have been posted. In order to save myself some time and editing and to address the concerns of most of those comments, I have compiled the following short
FAQ section so please read through this to see if I've already answered your question.
Thank you.
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FAQ-
Q- Where did you find this lame music?
A- In my CD collection.
Q- Why did you pick this lame music?
A- Because I like it.
Q- You should post this without the lame music?
A- No.
Q-
Why don't you change the lame music?
A- Because I like the music and I spent quite a bit of time editing the video so that it matches this music.
If I changed the music I'd have to edit the video again and, frankly, I'm just too lazy to do that.
Q- Why didn't you use (insert your favourite skater song here) by (insert your favourite band's name here)?
A- Because I've never heard it. I've never even heard of that band!
Q- I don't like the lame music?
A-
Turn the sound down.
Q- Seriously, you should post this without the lame music?
A- Seriously, No.
Q-
How come my curse-ridden, whiny, abusive, rant about how much you and your music suck didn't post?
A- Because I don't allow any comments without approval.
Q- Why didn't you approve my curse-ridden, whiny, abusive, tirade about how lame this music is?
A- Because you're an unimaginative troll. Had your tirade been insightful, clever or even mildly interesting, I would have approved it.
Q- Why did you include so many replays.
A- there are only two replays in the video. (7th run and last run) Tony made eight attempts before he was successful.
Q-
Really, you should post this without the lame music?
A- Really, not gonna happen.
Q-
Don't you know what a "Varial" is?
A-
Obviously not.
Q-
Dude, are you even a skater?
A- Dude, no.
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To shut up the whiners once and for all, I made a video with an alternate audio track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alDH0Ir0kH4
- published: 28 Oct 2008
- views: 1057365