Gui Khury, 11, lands first vert 1080 — besting Tony Hawk — during sports hiatus
Athletes have a lot of extra time on their hands right now and for some in individual pursuits it means extra time to perfect the craft.
While sports are on hiatus during the COVID-19 crisis, Brazilian skateboard Gui Khury did something even the legendary Tony Hawk couldn’t accomplish. He threw down the first 1080 on a vert ramp, according to the X Games. And he’s only 11.
Khury completed three revolutions in the half-pipe that’s flat on the bottom and vertical on the sides. It’s been 21 years since Hawk landed the 900 (2 1/2 revolutions) for the first time at the 1999 X Games, which vaulted the star into the mainstream. Khury was born 9 1/2 years after that milestone moment in the sport.
He shared Khury’s accomplishment on in Instagram story, noting “But vert isn’t in the Olympics.”
Skateboarding’s debut was set for this summer in Tokyo, but will wait until 2021 since the COVID-19 crisis forced the International Olympic Committee to postpone. It will offer two disciplines, park and street, but not vert. The discipline is an X Games staple and what lifted Shaun White, the Olympic snowboarder, to prominence. He attempted to compete in the Summer Olympics but has ended that quest.
Khury’s 1080 is the latest milestone following a fellow young athlete’s. Tom Schaar laid down skateboarding’s first-ever 1080 in 2012 at the age of 12. He completed it at the MegaRamp at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California. A mega ramp allows is larger and allows for more speed to get the full rotation.
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