Tony Hawk explained why he isn’t eyeing a permanent return to professional competition as the Olympics are set to include skateboarding yet again at the games in Paris this summer.
“I don’t think you want to see me competing when I’m 60,” the skateboarding icon recently told People magazine on whether he’d take part in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
He continued, “That’s probably not going to bode well. But I’ll definitely be there as a fan.”
The comments from Hawk, who once famously landed a 900 at the X Games and largely retired from professional competitions in 2003, arrive as skateboarding is set to make its second-ever appearance at this year’s Olympics with an increased field of competitors.
Hawk applauded the games adding skateboarding as a move that’s “great for the international growth and equality” of the sport.
“People think that somehow the Olympics, I don’t know, sanitizes what we do. But the competitions are run exactly like they have been for the last 30, 40 years,” he said.
“So it’s not like they’re reinventing the wheel or that they’re creating competition in our sport, it’s just that now it’s more accessible and has a wider audience.”
The skateboarding icon was at the Tokyo Olympics and served as a commentator for the action in 2021.
Hawk, in an interview with Larry King in 2014, declared that the games “need skateboarding more than we need them” and cited the sport’s popularity.
He told NBC Insider last month that it’s been fun seeing the sport “come of age.”
“To see it grow; to see the inclusion factor; to see that … parents encourage their kids to skate now [that] it’s an Olympic sport. It’s such a perfect time for skateboarding,” Hawk said.
Hawk told People he’s “hugely proud” of the Olympics’ inclusion of skateboarding, as well.
“I’m proud that it’s there, and I love that a kid who chooses to skate now knows that there is support for them,” he said.
