Tony Hawk (seen here, not at Woden) has been a force in skateboarding for over three decades. Photo: Flickr, Victor Solanoy.
Never-before-seen video of US professional skateboarder Tony Hawk at Woden Skate Park in 1988 has been discovered and shared online.
The footage, posted by Hawk on his Instagram page, shows him performing a range of tricks on the halfpipe in front of a huge, captivated crowd of Canberrans.
An internationally renowned skater and entrepreneur, the now 53-year-old Hawk turned pro at just 14. In 1999, he was the first person to successfully pull off a 900-degree aerial spin.
His influence extends to a hugely popular billion-dollar skateboarding video game franchise, clothing line, sporting goods and toys.
The Canberra appearance, part of the 1988 Bones Brigade Tour, was a significant win for local skaters and drew international coverage.
Hawk says he’s never seen the new footage before.
“I saw this footage today for the first time ever thanks to [Mark Weatherstone] and I barely remember any of it,” he wrote on the post.
“Here are some highlights of my odd trick selection: fast plant varial, invert varial to fakie, a sloppy Christ Air, egg to fakie, frigid Madonna and the most desperate 720 I’ve ever seen.”
The video has been watched over 220,000 times at the time of publishing.
The man behind the video, Mark Weatherstone, responded to the post saying how much Hawk’s visit meant to locals.
“Glad to jog your memory [Tony Hawk],” he wrote. “It’s a day us Canberran skaters will never forget … in fact, we still talk about it.”
Were you there when Tony Hawk skated in Canberra? Let us know in the comments.
Loading ...
