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Tony Hawk once spoke in a 2009 interview with TIME Magazine about skateboarding, often being associated with poorly-behaving youth. Upon being asked by a fan for his opinions on people who claim skateboarders are troublemakers, Hawk couldn’t hold back his laughter.

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In the interview, Birdman shared his two cents about the significance of the term ‘sport’ in the skateboarding world. And Also his views on common misconceptions associated with skateboarding. He considers it to also be a sport, along with being an art form.

Tony Hawk on skater’s bad rep

The ‘Birdman’ helps clear up the usual social stigma associated with skateboarding. That if you have a skateboard underneath your feet, a mother would probably ask their kid to stay away from you. Questioned by the WIRE, what he would say to refute those people, he stated, “I think you just need to dig deeper than the stereotypes…” 

Skateboarding took its time to be recognized as an Olympic sport. Due to low exposure to popular media, most enthusiasts would find it difficult to get access to appropriate infrastructures. As a result, skateboarders would often become a nuisance to society as they took their art to the streets.

Read More: Tony Hawk Once Discussed Why Vert Skateboarding Never Got the Recognition it Deserved: “But there is this Element of Vert… ”

“I think skaters got a bad rap in the past because they had no place to go. So they used the urban landscape as their skate parks,” said Tony.

Hawk explains why skateboarding is a sport

The term ‘sports’ rattles people in our industry,” said the globally renowned vertical skateboarding legend. “Because they think that it is an art form.

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I believe it’s an art form and I believe it is a sport.” He continued, “There is serious competition in skateboarding. That, by default, is a sport.” As an athlete and a flag bearer for skaters, Tony Hawk explains that the common social misconception did not stop skateboarding from evolving.

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Hawk, known for his record 900 degrees at the 1999 X Games, concludes his interview by explaining how many other sports that are considered “Olympic sports require less physical effort and less talent than skateboarding.

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