Amazing Skateboarding Records
Skateboarding is an amazing sport, and one that not all of use are able to do. Even those that have been skating for quite some time may find it hard to do complicated moves. Therefore it is important to give some recognition for those amazing skateboarding records out there. While other people will continue to strive to beat them, the bar has been set quite high.
Rob Thomson took 2 1/2 years to skateboard and it took him 850 days. He holds the record for the longest journey taken on a skateboard. This is approximately 7,500 miles that he covered along this incredible journey. He completely worn out three pairs of shoes, plenty of skating wheels, and two decks by the time he was finished as well.
Ted McDonald wanted to get a record for his skateboarding trip too, but he didn't have the same amount of time to put in. He skated though for 24 hours and completed 242 miles barefoot. At least he didn't go through multiple pairs of shoes like Thomson did right?
There are a couple of individuals out there that also hold multiple records. Danny Way has a few of them that are definitely worth mentioning here. First, he successfully accomplished jumping the Great Wall of China, a feat that no one had done before on just a skateboard. Second, he holds the record for the longest jump ever, and at 79 feet it is going to be very hard for someone to take over this title.
Rob Dyrdek holds more than 20 skateboarding records according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Most of them he was able to accomplish in 2007 when the Guinness Book of World Records held such a competition. Some of the events he is the top dog for include the longest 50/50 rail grind at a distance of 100 feet, 215 ollies in a row without stopping, and the highest skateboarding jump into water using a ramp which he set with 10 feet and 8 inches.
The highest ollie recorded and verified is at 44 ½ inches by Danny Wainwright. There have been videos out there circulating of other people doing ollies that could be up to 50 inches. However, they haven't been verified and so they don't get the credit some feel they deserve.
For more than a decade Gary Hardwick has been able to maintain the record he set for the fastest speed. He reached 63 miles per hour in 1998 while racing in Arizona. There is a separate record for doing the same thing with a jet pack on. This goes to Billy Copeland and he was able to reach a speed of 70 miles per hour this way.
Perhaps the one really well known record out there is by Tony Hawk. He made history in 1999 at the X Games performing what he referred to as the 900. Basically this is a complete 300 rotation three times in a row. That is an extremely difficult trick to accomplish. There are still only a handful of professionals out there that have mastered it well enough to use it in their performances.
It is important to note that all of the amazing skateboarding records out there have been verified. Other people claim that they have done better in certain tasks, but their information wasn't able to be verified. Therefore the current records will stand as they are. If you think you have what it takes to break a given skateboarding record, make sure you find out the right procedures for having your efforts recorded. That way you too can get yourself the recognition you deserve for this sport.
