Tony Alva
Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957 in Santa Monica , California ) is an American professional skateboarder , entrepreneur and musician . He was a member of the original Z-Boys and the first ever world skateboarding champion. Alva is considered a pioneer of the vert style ; the Transworld Skateboarding Magazine leads him on the list of the most influential skateboarders of all time in eighth place.
Life
Alva came from a relatively strict family and was given a surf and a skateboard as a gift in 1968 . He developed a strong passion for surfing, skateboarding and rock 'n' roll .
In 1972 he joined the well-known Zephyr team with athletes like Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta . After the team's great success on its debut in 1975, Alva embarked on a steep career. Soon after the Zephyr Skate Team was destroyed by the industry, he signed with other companies and founded his own skateboard company Alva Skateboards at the age of 19 . He was considered an eccentric and egoistic exceptional talent, which at that time hardly anyone in the competitions could match.
Especially the Dogtown Articles in Skateboarder Magazine by Craig Stecyk made him a legend in his sport and he soon got the nickname Mad Dog . He rose to become the first great skateboard star in history, who enjoyed worldwide popularity and significantly changed the public perception of the discipline. Tony Alva won the World Overall Professional Skateboard Championship in 1977.
In the early 1980s, TA, as it is also often called, formed the well-known Alva Posse and sponsored particularly innovative skaters such as Christian Hosoi , Ray Barbee, Mark Gonzales , Dave Duncan, Eddie Reategui, John Thomas, Jeff Hartsel, Craig Johnson, Bill Danforth , Fred Smith III and Jim Murphy .
Later career
In 1999 he received the "X Games Life Time Achievement Award" from Tony Hawk as part of the 99 ' X Games . A year later he received the "Legend Award" from Transworld Skateboard Magazine.
In 2001 he was an important part of Stacy Peralta's documentary Dogtown & Z-Boys , in which he spoke in interviews about the origins of skateboarding in the days of the Z-Boys. In 2005 he worked as a consultant and stunt coordinator for the skate scenes on the feature film Lords of Dogtown .
Trivia
Alva is considered to be the first skateboarder to have a real Air (that is, the entire board is in the air).
He was the first skateboarder who could successfully market himself and his name. Alva still owns the Tony Alva Skateboard Company in Oceanside , California.
He is the real inventor of vert skating and is constantly developing new technologies to advance this discipline.
According to her own statements, Alva skates and surfs almost every day.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ TONY ALVA. In: Juice Magazine. August 1, 2002, Retrieved May 1, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ The 30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time. In: Transworld SKATEboarding. December 20, 2011, accessed May 1, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alva, Tony |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American skateboarder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd September 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Santa Monica , California |