Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk is skating off into the sunset of his career — or at least some of his moves are.
The 52-year-old pro has begun doing tricks for the last time and just retired one of his famous moves. In a video posted to his Instagram on Thursday, the professional skater performed his signature ollie 540 for the last time.
“In 1989 I started trying ollie 540’s as a joke, since it seemed there was no way to keep a skateboard on your feet throughout 1 1/2 spins in the air. But at some point I started scooping the tail with my back toe, which kept my feet in place for most of the spin,” Hawk captioned the video. “So today I decided to do it one more time … and never again.”
The iconic shredder decided to retire the trick, which he has been perfecting for decades after numerous wipeouts began physically taking a toll on him.
“[My] willingness to slam unexpectedly into the flat bottom has waned greatly over the last decade,” he explained.
After completing his final ollie 540 in the video after multiple attempts, Hawk falls to his knees, crying.
“Kinda sad. I’m like a little sad. That definitely was the last one I’ll ever do,” Hawk says before breaking into tears.
“F – – k it. Happy I made it,” he tells the others in the video, pacing the halfpipe. “Thanks guys for hanging in there with me.”
The emotional moment, in which Hawk humbly performs a feat of human ability, is being auctioned off as a non-fungible coin (NFT), the current hottest crypto craze. Proceeds from the sale of the intangible, blockchain-based ownership representation token will be donated to a yet unspecified charity, CoinDesk reported.
In January, Hawk shared a video of himself landing a 720.
“I recently made a 720 and it was a battle. The last one I made before this was over three years ago, and it’s much harder now all things considered: recently dislocated fingers hinder my grab, my spin is slower so I need to go higher for full rotation and … I’m really old,” he captioned the video.
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Originally published at https://nypost.com/2021/03/19/tony-hawk-retires-the-ollie-540-the-last-one-ill-ever-do/ on .
