The Most Influential Skateboarders of All Time
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Vote up the skateboarders who made major contributions to the sport and changed it forever.
- 1Age: 57John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, inventor, and public speaker who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is widely considered the most influential street skater in the history of the sport, being credited for inventing numerous tricks, including the flatground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, impossible, and 360-flip. As a result, he has been called the "Godfather of Street Skateboarding."Rodney Mullen won his first world skateboard championship at the age of 14; over the following decade, he won 35 out of 36 freestyle contests, thus establishing the most successful competitive run in the history of the sport. Over the following years, he turned from freestyle, translating his accumulated skills to a newer, different form of skateboarding. Mullen has appeared in over 20 skateboarding videos and has co-authored an autobiography, entitled The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself, with writer Sean Mortimer.More Rodney Mullen
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- 2Age: 55Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968) is an American professional skateboarder, actor and owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. Hawk is well known for completing the first documented 900 and for his licensed video game titles, published by Activision, and is widely considered to be one of the most successful and influential pioneers of modern vertical skateboarding.In 2002, he created the "Boom Boom HuckJam", an extreme sports exhibition and tour that was launched in Las Vegas. Throughout his career, Hawk has made numerous appearances in films, other media, and his own series of video games. He has also been involved in various philanthropic activities, including his own Tony Hawk Foundation that helps to build skateparks in underprivileged areas. In 2014, Hawk was named one of the most influential skateboarders of all time by FoxWeekly.More Tony Hawk
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- 3Age: 55Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1968), also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz", is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known in the skateboarding world as a top pioneer of modern street skateboarding and was named by the Transworld Skateboarding magazine as the "Most Influential Skateboarder of all Time" in December 2011.
- 4Age: 66Stacy Peralta (born October 15, 1957) is an American director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys from Venice, California.
- 5Age: 50Danny Way (born April 15, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder, company owner and rallycross driver who has been awarded Thrasher magazine's "Skater of the Year" award twice. He is known for extreme stunts, such as jumping into a skateboard ramp from a helicopter, a Skin Phillips photograph of this feat appeared on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine. He's also known for pioneering megaramps, including one that he used to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard.
- 6Age: 47Robert Dean Silva Burnquist (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔbɛʁtʃ ˈdzĩː ˈsiwvɐ bɐ̃(ɹ)ˈkwistʃ]; born October 10, 1976) is a Brazilian-American professional skateboarder who competed for Brazil throughout his career. In 2010, he became the first skateboarder to land a "fakie 900" (900-degree reverse-natural rotation), making Burnquist the fifth person in history to successfully complete the 900 trick.More Bob Burnquist
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- 7Age: 59Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964 in San Jose, California) is an American professional skateboarder and musician. Caballero is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a halfpipe. In 1999, Thrasher Magazine named Caballero the "Skater of the Century".
- 8Age: 66Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957) is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician, most prominently known as a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and as one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, famously known as the Z-Boys. The Transworld Skateboarding Magazine ranked him eighth in its list of the "30 Most Influential skateboarders" of all time.
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Natas Kaupas
Age: 55Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California in the area known as Dogtown and is of Lithuanian descent. He attended Santa Monica High School. He is often referred to as one of the first true professional street skateboarders. - 10Age: 45Andrew Reynolds (born June 6, 1978) is an American professional skateboarder known for co-founding Baker Skateboards in 2000 with artist Jay Strickland. He is now Baker Skateboard's sole owner. Andrew established Bakerboys Distribution with Erik Ellington and Jim Greco in 2007. Bakerboys Distribution provides distribution for closely related in-house skateboard companies such as Deathwish Skateboards and Shake Junt. He is also the head of design at Altamont Apparel. Andrew primarily skates street.More Andrew Reynolds
- #9 of 52 onThe Best Skateboarders Of All Time
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- #2 of 48 onThe Best Street Skaters of All Time
- 11
Daewon Song
Age: 49Daewon David Song (born February 19, 1975) is a Korean-born American professional skateboarder, recognized for his skillful technical street skateboarding. He is co-owner of Thank You skateboards with Torey Pudwill, and also skates for the company alongside other sponsored team riders. Song was named the 2006 "Skater of the Year" by Thrasher magazine, an award that is widely considered to be one of the most significant honors in skateboarding. - 12Age: 56Christian Rosha Hosoi ( hoh-SOY; born October 5, 1967) is an American professional skateboarder. He is also known by the nicknames "Christ" and "Holmes".More Christian Hosoi
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- 13Age: 49Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the Tony Hawk's video game series, and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games Skate 2 and Skate 3. Koston co-owns both Fourstar Clothing (with Guy Mariano) and the skatepark/website "The Berrics" (with professional skateboarder Steve Berra).
- 14Age: 53Mike Vallely ( VAL-ə-lee; born June 29, 1970), also known as Mike V, is an American professional skateboarder, musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, and FHL hockey player. As of January 2014, he is the lead singer of the hardcore punk band Black Flag.
- 15Dec. at 53 (1961-2014)Jay J. Adams (February 3, 1961 – August 15, 2014) was an American skateboarder who as a teen, was the youngest member of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team (Z-Boys). His spontaneous freestyle skateboarding style, inspired by ocean surfing, helped innovate and popularize modern skateboarding. His aggressive vertical tricks make him one of skateboarding's most influential stylists. Adams died of a heart attack on August 15, 2014.
- 16Age: 46Chad Muska (born May 20, 1977) is an American professional skateboarder and entrepreneur. In November 2012, Skin Phillips, editor-in-chief of Transworld Skateboarding, described Muska as "one of the most marketable pros skateboarding has ever seen."
- 17
Jamie Thomas
Age: 49Jamie Thomas (born October 11, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder and skateboard industry entrepreneur. Thomas is the owner and founder of Zero Skateboards and Fallen Footwear, until he announced its closure in January 2017. Thomas' nickname in the skateboard industry is The Chief. - 18Age: 47Geoffrey Joseph Rowley, Jr. (born 6 June 1976) is an English professional skateboarder, former co-owner of Flip Skateboards and owner of the Civilware Service Corporation. Rowley is a recipient of the prestigious "Skater of the Year" award, judged and presented by Thrasher Magazine.More Geoff Rowley
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- 19Age: 51Charles Michael "Bucky" Lasek ( LAY-sik; born December 3, 1972) is a professional skateboarder and rallycross driver.
- 20Age: 59Robert Lance Mountain (born June 13, 1964) is a professional skateboarder and artist who was one of the prominent skateboarders throughout the 1980s, primarily due to his involvement with the Bones Brigade. As of August 2017, Mountain continues to skate professionally and his sponsors include Flip, Nike SB, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, and Bones Bearings.
- 21
Tom Penny
Age: 47Tom Penny (born 13 April 1977) is a professional skateboarder from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (UK). As of January 2013, Penny is sponsored by the Flip skateboard deck brand and his Cheech & Chong signature deck is one of the brand's highest-selling deck products. - 22Age: 50John Joseph Cardiel (born December 14, 1973) is a professional skateboarder and snowboarder who has been a core member of the AntiHero Skateboards company since it was founded in 1995.
- 23
Nyjah Huston
Age: 29Nyjah Imani Huston (born November 30, 1994) is an American professional skateboarder and was the overall champion at the Street League Skateboarding (SLS) competition series in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2019. He is also the highest paid skateboarder in the world. As of May 19, 2013, Huston has won more prize money than any other skateboarder in history. In 2014, Huston ranked #5 on FoxWeekly's 'Top 15 Most Influential Skateboarders of All-Time'.More Nyjah Huston- #56 of 108 onThe Best Athletes Of 2024, Ranked
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- #5 of 48 onThe Best Street Skaters of All Time
- 24Age: 48Michael Shawn Carroll (born August 24, 1975) is a professional skateboarder from Daly City, California, United States. He is the co-founder and vice-president of Girl Skateboards and the co-founder of Lakai Limited Footwear. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Chocolate Skateboards subdivision of Girl. Furthermore, Carroll is known for being in the vanguard of innovative, technical, and stylish street skateboarding in the early 1990s and beyond. The success of skateboarding videos like Hokus Pokus, Ban This! and Video Days firmly ensconced street as the premier variation of skating (a position formally held by freestyle and especially vert skateboarding).
- 25
Guy Mariano
Age: 48Guy Mariano (born March 31, 1976) is a professional skateboarder who gained recognition at the age of fourteen for his video part in the Blind Skateboards video Video Days (1991). - 26Age: 51Ed Templeton (born July 28, 1972) is an American professional skateboarder, contemporary artist, and photographer. He is the founder of the skateboard company, Toy Machine, a company that he continues to own and manage. He is based in Huntington Beach, California.Templeton was inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame in 2016.More Ed Templeton
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- 27Age: 46
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Elissa Steamer
Age: 48Elissa Beth Steamer (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder. - 29
Neil Blender
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Matt Hensley
Age: 45Matthew Davis Hensley (born August 18, 1978) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played part of the 2004 season in Major League Baseball for the Anaheim Angels. In 2004, Hensley appeared in 30 games for the Angels, in which he went 0-2 with a 4.88 ERA and 30 strikeouts. In 2008, he played for the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. On July 20, 2009, Hensley's contract was purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays organization, but he was released on August 19 after appearing in just eight games for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
