LOS ANGELES Before the X Games IX Skateboard Vert Best Trick
final,
Tony Hawk had landed the 900 twice at X Games competition.
However, both of those 900s came after the allotted competition time.
Hawk (Carlsbad, Calif.) landed the first post-buzzer 900 at X
Games V in 1999, again in 2001, but today he landed the trick for
the first time ever within official competition, winning the X
Games gold medal atop an elite field of skateboarding’s best athletes.
In dramatic fashion, Hawk busted out the 900 with seven seconds
left on the clock. The crowd at STAPLES Center erupted as Hawk,
making history once again, landed the flawless 900 smooth. As
the clock hit zero, Hawk tossed his helmet to his ecstatic fans
and walked off the ramp with first place honors in Vert Best
Trick for the first time since X Games V. Hawk has won more
medals than any athlete in X Games history. Today he won his
tenth gold medal and sixteenth medal overall. Hawk expressed
his intention to retire from competition and focus on other endeavors.
"I’m happy to go out with a bang," said Hawk. "It’s nice to know
I went out doing something I love with the 900. I’m just glad
I finally got one in legitimately within time. I was happy to
land a trick, any trick out there. If I do well, that’s enough."
Jake Brown (Sydney, Aus.), who finished fourth, came close to
landing what would have been a revolutionary tailgrab 900, but
was unsuccessful. At a recent competition in New York, Brown
broke his tailgrab fingers. When they fully heal, the door could
be open for Brown to land the 900 with a grab.
"Jake’s 900 attempt represents the perseverance that all the guys
have when they set a goal," said Hawk. "It’s the progression of
the sport. I’d like to see lots of guys out there doing 900s."
Hawk landed two other major tricks, contributing further to his
legacy as the sport’s most important modern innovator. Before
his 900, Hawk landed a stalefish fakie to fakie 540 and a
frontside cab aerial revert, two tricks never seen before in
X Games history.
Sandro Dias
Tony Hawk Vert doubles partner Andy Macdonald (Carlsbad, Calif.)
took third place, with a run that included a huge varial to fakie.
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