This might be the best two-minute skate video ever. And it’s all about perspective. Like watching Jordan shoot in the gym or Tiger Woods on the driving range. There’s an art in the athleticism, especially when a great athlete is working on a specific maneuver. Like a pull-up jumper going left or the correct tweak in the swing to maximize distance. Or throwing a 900 like Tony Hawk, something not many of us can do at any age.
The two percent of the population that can will surely appreciate the passion it took Hawk to pull another one the other day, 17 years after he first did it at the X Games. And even if you can’t do superhuman things, the focus and will is fairly undeniable. I’m not sure if he looked stoked or just done when he throws the helmet and elbow pads in faux celebration, sweat pouring down his face. But that’s what two and a half spins looks like, no matter how you cut it. Honestly, it looked just about as hard as when he did it the first time (below). These days, there’s a handful of gifted skaters that can land this difficult trick. But glimpses of Hawk’s life like this, where he’s ready for a shower and a massage after chasing it hour on hour for the love, that’s the kind of thing that solidifies him as the GOAT in my eyes.
This Hawk can certainly fly. And at 48, dude is still a beast.
