Saturday, August 3, 2013

Bucky Lasek Wins Gold Medal in Skateboarding Vert — X Games Los Angeles

This guy's cool.

He won bronze in 2011 when I attended with my boyz

At LAT, "Bucky Lasek wins vert gold medal at X Games."

Also, "At 40, skateboarding vert pioneer Bucky Lasek still gets ramped up":


Bucky Lasek stands atop the vert ramp hunched forward, right hand on his skateboard.

Above his tidy brown chin strip and mustache, deep lines crease his cheeks. He watches other boarders drop in at practice Wednesday.

Tom Schaar, 13. Mitchie Brusco, 16. Jono Schwan, 16. All young enough to be his kids.

But at 40, Lasek is far from just the old Buck.

He's the best in the sport today and possibly of all time. He proved that again Saturday, winning his fourth straight gold medal at the X Games in Los Angeles.

"When I look at some of my classmates and stuff on Facebook, it's pretty crazy," Lasek said. "I wouldn't expect those guys to be rolling in."

At an age when many men are going through crises, Lasek is at the peak of his career and showing no signs of slowing down. He won in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, this April after a nine-year gold-medal drought in the event, and on Saturday became the first ever to four-peat.

Once a pioneer in the vert event, Lasek is now breaking ground as the oldest to compete, especially as the one to beat.

"This is the best year I've ever had in my life competitively," Lasek said.

It's more than that, said retired professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

"His last few competition appearances were far and above better than anything he's ever done," Hawk said, "and better than anyone has ever ridden on the vert ramp."
That's so cool.

More at the link.

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