Tony Hawk’s $1.15 million skateboard sale isn’t just about the money: Here’s what he’s doing next

An iconic skateboard used by Tony Hawk fetched a seven-figure sum at a recent sale of his memorabilia, with the skating legend pledging to pump money from the auction into bringing more skateparks to the U.S.

In Los Angeles last week, an unnamed bidder paid $1.15 million for the Falcon 2 skateboard on which Hawk pulled off a historic 900-degree aerial spin at the 1999 X Games.

It was the first confirmed completion of the trick, which requires the skateboarder to spin for two and a half revolutions while airborne.

“Hope it’s someone that truly appreciates it”

Speaking to the Associated Press after the Falcon 2’s sale, Hawk said of the board’s unidentified buyer: “I hope that it’s someone that truly appreciates it, or that event or that object meant something to them and it’s not just a flex because they have the money.”

“Time to purge”

During this month’s auction, around 100 items from Hawk’s personal collection of skateboarding memorabilia went under the hammer. They also included the helmet and sneakers he wore for the 900, which sold for $115,200 and $64,000, respectively.

Discussing his decision to flog key items from his two-decade career as a professional skateboarder, Hawk told an interview with Julien’s Auctions, the auctioneer that ran the sale: “I do feel like it was time to purge.”

The collection put up for auction also featured some of the 16 medals - of which 10 were gold - that Hawk won across numerous appearances at the X Games.

Auction profits to boost Hawk’s skatepark drive

In a statement, Julien’s and Hawk confirmed that proceeds from the auction will go to The Skatepark Project, a non-profit created by Hawk in 2001.

Founded with the aim of building skateparks in underserved communities in the U.S., the organization says it has helped construct 700 such parks over the past quarter-century.

“It was never lost on me how lucky I was to skate at one of the last remaining parks in the U.S. in the 80s,” Hawk told Julien’s. “That was my place of community, that was where I found my sense of self and my tribe.

“So when I found myself in a position to effect any kind of change, that was my priority - to build more skateparks.”

Hawk added: “Skateboarding is the great equalizer. If you go to a skatepark, there are people of all ages, all races, all genders, all skill levels. And everyone rallies around each other when they’re trying to learn something.

“If I can help to provide more of those facilities, so that more people have the opportunity to try it, then that’s the best work I can do."

“It might as well be here”

Looking back on the day he pulled off his then-unprecedented 900, Hawk told Julien’s that it capped a more than decade-long pursuit of the feat.

“It was the best night of my skate career,” said the 57-year-old, who retired as a pro skateboarder in 2003. “It wasn’t anything I expected to do that night, so that’s why it all came as such as shock. I had been trying 900s since roughly 1986, 1987.”

He continued: “When this event happened, my best trick at the time was a varial 720 [which involved spinning for two revolutions]. That’s all I had planned. But I landed that pretty early on, and I didn’t really have anywhere to go from there.

“And the announcer was kind of vibing me, like: ‘Come on, let’s do that 900!’ [I thought] ‘Oh dude, don’t put me on the spot.’ So I just kind of tried some things for the crowd and at some point after my third or fourth try, pretty much every attempt was feeling pretty good.

“So I just thought, ‘If you’re ever going to try to land it again, it might as well be here.’”

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