| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 22, 1976 [1] Richmond, California, U.S. |
| Home town | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Sport | |
| Country | USA |
| Sport | Skateboarding |
Karl Watson (born September 22, 1976) is a regular-footed professional American skateboarder, skate video director, and author from the San Francisco Bay Area. [2] [3]
Watson was born in Richmond, California and raised in San Francisco. [4]
Karl Watson was given his first skateboard on Christmas day in 1987. [5] Three years later, Watson received sponsorship, at the age of 13, and at 17, while still at McAteer High School, Watson turned pro for Clean skateboards. [3] Watson's first sponsor was Dogtown skateboards and his first full skate video part was in DTS, The Video (’91). [6] [7] The first time Watson's name appeared on a board was with his second sponsor, Think Skateboards, with the Missing Children deck, featuring Watson alongside Nick Lockman, Sam Smyth, and Shawn Mandoli. [8] Released in 1995 on Profile skateboards, Watson's first solo deck graphic was based on an "afrocentric" stick-figure scene Watson appropriated from a work of art his mom had hanging on her wall. [9] Additionally, Watson released a deck with a popular graphic for Mad Circle skateboards depicting a man with dreads. [9]
Watson is known for his laid back skate style. [10]
Watson's first signature skate shoe was released by IPath Footwear in 2000. [3] Throughout his career, Watson skated for Mad Circle Skateboards, Organika Skateboards, and Blind Skateboards. [11] In 2008, Watson directed Zach & Walker's Concrete Jungle with Matt Daughters for Organika Skateboards. [12]
In 2005, Watson worked with Keith "K-Dub" Williams and Adjoa Murden in advocating for the construction of a skatepark in Oakland, a successful effort that would become Town Park skatepark. [4] Watson also worked with Williams on the Hood Games, a mixing of hip-hop and skateboarding culture. [13]
In 2018, Watson and Nick Lockman founded Maxallure. [14] The founding team consisted of Watson, Lil Dre, Jonathan Perez, De Marquis McDaniels, Tafari Whitter, and Marcello Campanello. [15]
In 2017, Watson collaborated with illustrator Henry Jones, writing a children's book: My First Skateboard Book. [16] Watson's book introduces children to the world of skateboarding. [17] [18]
Watson is a father and a pescatarian. [11] Watson had a tumor on his Pineal gland. [11]
Watson currently manages the Adidas flow team. [19]
Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams. Skateboarding made its Olympic debut in 2020 and was included in the 2024 games.
Anthony Frank Hawk, nicknamed Birdman, is an American former professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documented "900" skateboarding trick in 1999. He also licensed a skateboarding video game series named after him, published by Activision that same year. Hawk retired from competing professionally in 2003 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential skateboarders of all time.
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipes, ledges, spine transfers, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs, and any number of other objects.
Alan "Ollie" Gelfand is an influential American skateboarder, racing driver, and entrepreneur credited with inventing the ollie, the foundational skateboarding trick.
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Chad Muska is an American professional skateboarder, musician and entrepreneur. In November 2012, Skin Phillips, editor-in-chief of Transworld Skateboarding, described Muska as "one of the most marketable pros skateboarding has ever seen."
Deluxe Distribution is an Ermico Enterprises, Inc.-owned American skateboarding company founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco. Deluxe was formed to distribute the Beware Record label, and other small record labels popular with skateboarders, along with Thunder Trucks and Supercush Bushings. Deluxe distributes six skateboard brands and owns DLXSF, a retail outlet.
Robert Lance Mountain is an American professional skateboarder and artist who was one of the prominent skateboarders throughout the 1980s, primarily due to his involvement with the Bones Brigade. As of August 2017, Mountain continues to skate professionally and his sponsors include Flip, Nike SB, Indy, Spitfire, and Bones Bearings.
Nyjah Imani Huston is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS Super Crown World Championship in 2014, 2017 to 2019, and has won 15 gold medals at the X Games since 2011. Huston won his first Olympic medal, a bronze, in the 2024 Olympic men's street event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
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Richard McCrank is a Canadian professional skateboarder and skate shop owner.
Andrew Kessler was a Greek-born American skateboarder, skatepark builder, and prominent member of a loose-knit collective of skateboarders and graffiti artists called the Soul Artists of Zoo York. Kessler is featured in the documentary Deathbowl to Downtown.
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas referred to as "spots," which are commonly streets, plazas or industrial areas. To add variety and complexity to street skateboarding, obstacles such as handrails, stairs, walls, flower beds, bins, park benches, picnic tables, and other street furniture may be traversed as single tricks or as part of a series of consecutive tricks called a "line."
Austin Amelio is an American actor best known for his role as Dwight in The Walking Dead, its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, and his role as Nesbit in Everybody Wants Some!!
Steve Rodriguez is a goofy-footed American skateboarder, skate company owner, skatepark designer, community organizer, and creative services director, who lives and skates in NYC. Rodriguez is a leader in the effort to restore the iconic New York City skate spot: the Brooklyn Banks, a place where Rodriguez spent much time skateboarding. Until it closed for construction in 2010, Rodriguez hosted skate contests at the Banks.
Phil Shao was a goofy-footed professional skateboarder and journalist from Redwood City, California. Before his death, Shao was to be the next editor-in-chief of Thrasher magazine.
Theodore Ward Barrow, also known as Ted Barrow, is an American art historian, writer, professor, skateboarding critic, social media persona, lecturer, and skateboarder.
Reginald "Reggie" Barnes Jr. is a retired American professional freestyle skateboarder and the founder/CEO of Eastern Skateboard Supply, the largest skateboard wholesale company in North America. Known as a "virtuoso" teen amateur, Barnes skated professionally from 1980 to 1991, with the Pepsi-Cola Pro Skateboard Team, Walker Skateboards, and Dogtown Skateboards. By 1986, Barnes was one of the top five American freestyle skaters in the United States and was a featured demonstrator at Expo 86, the world's fair held in Vancouver, Canada. He placed third in freestyle at the World Cup in 1987.
