B.C. skateboarder Andy Anderson no doubt gained plenty of fans after his performance at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer 鈥� none more notable, perhaps, than legendary skater Tony Hawk.
Hawk, an icon in the skateboarding community and the most well-known skater of all-time 鈥� his eponymous Pro Skater video-game series has been popular since its first release in 1999 鈥� was a guest this week on the Blocked Party podcast, where he had nothing but compliments for the Semiahmoo Peninsula skateboarder.
鈥淗e鈥檚 an awesome skater鈥� he鈥檚 doing these tricks on ledges, and he does these impossibly hard combinations of tricks,鈥� Hawk said of White Rock鈥檚 Anderson, during a conversation with podcast hosts John Cullen, a graduate of South Surrey鈥檚 Semiahmoo Secondary, and Vancouver resident Stefan Heck.
鈥� READ ALSO: Tokyo Olympics over for South Surrey runner, White Rock skateboarder
Hawk was on the show 鈥� a comedy podcast about social media and the internet, among other things 鈥� to discuss, his experience in Japan at the beginning of the Summer Olympics, as well as his experience watching the men鈥檚 park competition from home, which is when the topic turned to Anderson.
Cullen asked Hawk for his thoughts on Anderson鈥檚 Olympic performance, and whether Hawk thought Anderson was shortchanged by the judges in not advancing to the event鈥檚 final round; at the time of the competition, many Olympic viewers expressed their displeasure with the fact that Anderson did not advance, despite being one of the most entertaining competitors in the field.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so subjective, it鈥檚 hard to say, but I thought he did well,鈥� Hawk said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a thing that happens at skate events where the judges will judge you against what they think you鈥檙e capable of. And so, when they see him skating in practice and they know he鈥檚 capable of these harder tricks, they鈥檒l punish him for it (in competition). That鈥檚 not how it should be, but it happens.
鈥淏ut the cool thing about seeing him was, at the end of his run, he was on top of the volcano (ramp) in the middle, and he was doing freestyle tricks. No other sport in the Olympics has someone goofing around, doing some old version of their sport, after their time is up.
鈥淭hat just doesn鈥檛 happen 鈥� but that鈥檚 what you get from skateboarding.鈥�
Hawk, 53, also said that Anderson, with his penchant for wild tricks, is the real-life embodiment of the playable characters in the Pro Skater games, noting that the 25-year-old is 鈥淭HPS (Tony Hawk Pro Skater) as a real boy.鈥�
Hawk paid Anderson the same compliment last June, in an interview with CBC, adding that he is impressed with Anderson鈥檚 ability to blend old-school tricks with newer ones.
Anderson qualified for the Olympics last spring, after a top-16 finish at an event in Des Moines, Iowa. The event was his final chance to make the Olympic cut.
Anderson turned pro in 2019, signing with famed skateboarding brand Powell-Peralta. The first Andy Anderson-branded skateboard deck that was made for sale by the company sold out in 12 hours.
sports@peacearchnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
