Tony Hawk Biography

7 Pages 1635 Words

Tony Hawk is one of the most well-known skateboarders in the world. He was born in San Diego, California on May 12, 1968. He was the youngest of three children, and before getting involved in skateboarding described himself as a nightmare. His parents spoiled him rotten; he got whatever he wanted, was allowed to do whatever he wanted, and always threw huge tempur tantrums when he didn't get his way. "Instead of the terrible twos. I was the terrible youth," he said. (Hawk 8-13)

Hawk was a highly competitive person ever since he was born. If he was playing a board game that he wasn't sure he would win, he would get angry and flip the board over violently. He hated losing, and no matter what he set his mind to he hardly ever gave up without accomplishing. What he couldn't do made him mad. He didn't understand why he couldn't do everything he wanted to. One day when Tony was six years old, his mom took him to an olympic size pool. "He decided that he had to swim the length of it without a breath. And he was so frustrated when he didn't do it," his mom, Nancy, recalls. "He was so hard on himself and expected himself to do so many things." One time when Tony struck out in baseball he got so upset that he hid in a ravine and had to be physically coaxed out by his father. (club site)

He was so harsh on himself, and used to get irrationaly angry over small things, so his parents decided to have him psychologically evaluated at school. It turned out to be that Tony was "gifted," and his school advisors recommended placing him in advanced classes. The results were that Tony was "gifted," and school advisors recommended placing him in advanced classes. His psychologist also told his parents what he thought was causing his frustration; the fact that he had a 12-year old mind in and 8-year old body, and his body was telling him things this body couldn't do. (club site) He started working ahead of the class in both English and...