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Who Let the Birds Out?
Mat “Condor” Hoffman and Tony Hawk Hit the Ramp
(July 29, 2006)
By Mark Shays
Thousands of British action sports fans poured into the NEC Arena to see legends of vert, Mat Hoffman and Tony Hawk ride the ASA ultra-ramp and show why they have become bona-fide superstars. It was a stellar afternoon for the kids of Birmingham who got to witness one of the rarest of all action sports sightings – a Mat and Tony doubles run.
For the past couple of years, Mat has mostly stayed away from competitions. After achieving virtually everything he ever set out to do on his bike, and earning numerous awards and titles, Mat chose to focus on his family and getting healthy, while he dabbled in films and other adventures. This year, however, he came back to the competition realm. Mat arrived in Birmingham, fresh off a silver medal at the Masters contest in Cologne. After only taking a handful of warm up runs, he pulled some incredible tricks: massive no-handers, no-handed 540s, tailwhips, and flairs.
When Tony hit the ramp he immediately reminded everyone that he is still one of the greatest skateboarders on the planet. As usual, Tony rode like a champion, throwing many of his signature airs and mctwists and he even added in some old school classic inverts. Then he dropped in and did a run that would have won most contests today. It was wall-to-wall madness with 540s, 720s, and a varial mctwist.
The superstars were joined by John Parker, Tas Pappas, Jason Branham, Mathias Ringstrom, Zach Shaw, and others who demonstrated the distance these sports have come since their inception at the hands of Mat and Tony. No one walked away disappointed and some of the luckiest fans even got autographs.
