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Legend enjoys desert treat

By Sun Xiaochen (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-24 07:57

Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk described his first effort to skate on sand as an "impressive" and "different experience".

Hawk, who has been an integral part of the action sports field with 10 gold medals over his 17-year X Games career, appeared at this year's Laureus World Sports Awards gala at Abu Dhabi, in February and attended an amusement activity that invited a bunch of celebrities to surf the desert on snowboards.

Although well away from his rolling in the half pipes, Hawk enjoyed the unique ride on sand.

"It's totally different, it's another sport. But it's interesting and enjoyable. Probably, it could be another X Games' event in the future," Hawk said during a teleconference to promote the X Games' expansion last Wednesday.

Without anything left to prove, Hawk has faded out of the limelight and only occasionally performs at exhibitions.

However, Hawk, whose main jobs now swing between TV analyst and video game producer, said he has not retired from the sport.

"To be clear: I never said I was retired; the media did," Hawk said.

Hawk was the first to land a 900 stunt in a competition in 1999, a difficult 2 1/2 -revolution trick that only a few skateboarders have even tried in competition.

Just two weeks ago, during an exhibition in Sweden, the 43-year-old successfully showed the big move again.

"I don't have all the flip tricks as consistent as the younger guys do. That would be sort of my weakness (in a competition). But I do feel like I can justify being out there and be a professional," he said.

(China Daily 05/24/2011 page23)