Watch A 52-Year-Old Tony Hawk Do A 720 For What Could Be The Last Time
At 52 years old, Tony Hawk is still nailing impressive tricks.
Tony Hawk is an extreme sports legend whose name is synonymous with skateboarding. At 52 years old, he's still got it. Hawk recently landed a 720 at a local skatepark, but it was not easy.
In a video posted to Twitter, the Birdman battles hard to land the trick. He falls again and again and again, but each time he gets back up and he eventually nails the trick. It's an impressive feat and it speaks to Hawk's passion and character that he is still trying so hard after so many years.
I recently made a 720 and it was a battle. The last one I made before this was over three years ago, and it’s much harder now all things considered: recently dislocated fingers hinder my grab, my spin is slower so I need to go higher for full rotation and...
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) January 27, 2021
I’m really old. pic.twitter.com/u8pbwRhS9j
He says the last time he landed a 720 before this was more than three years ago. It's much more difficult for him to nail the trick these days due to his recently dislocated fingers (which impacts his ability to grab the board), while his spin rate is slower due to age and flexibility, so he needs to compensate by getting higher in the air, and in turn raising the element of danger.
"and ... I'm really old," Hawk said.
After successfully completing the sick trick, Hawk is visibly emotional. There is some strong language in the video as well, so be aware of that if that matters to you.
In another tweet, Hawk said he can't say for sure that this is the last 720 he'll ever do, "but I can't imagine doing many more."
Hawk is auctioning off the board he completed the trick on to raise money for his charity, The Skatepark Project, which raises money to help underserved communities build safe and inclusive public skateparks. You can learn more about this in the video below.
Hawk's video game franchise, Pro Skater, is still going. The latest release was Pro Skater 1 + 2, which came out in September 2020 to great reviews. However, developer Vicarious Visions will no longer work on Tony Hawk games, as it was recently folded into Blizzard; the developer is now reportedly working on a Diablo 2 remake.
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