Top 10 Skateboarders of the Decade

Tony Hawk has been the best known skateboarder for the last 10 years, but Hawk retired from competing in 1999. So why is he the top skater of this decade?

In 1999, the first Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game came out. Over the last 10 years, the Tony Hawk video game franchise (12 games!) has moved mountains in promoting skateboarding, and has dominated the skateboarding video game scene.

Also in 1999, Tony Hawk became the first skater to pull off a 900, the holy grail of vert skateboarding. Over the last 10 years, many have tried to beat it, but no one has yet. I have no doubt that someone will land a 1080 eventually, but in the world of vert skating, Tony Hawk has remained unchallenged, even though he hasn't competed. That's pretty amazing.

In 2001 Globe skateboard shoes came out with the Globe: Opinion skateboarding video. Rodney Mullen was already well known by that time (he was in the Bones Brigade!), but this video really showcased what Mullen was capable of. His technical street wizardry showed that he was a magnitude above everyone else, and he has stayed there for the last 10 years. He's come out with several more skateboarding videos, each challenging what people think street skateboarding is.

Mullen has also been heavily involved in the research and development side of skateboarding - through his company Almost, as well as Globe and Tensor Trucks, Rodney has been influential in the design side of skateboarding over the last decade.

Danny Way has dominated the stunts and spectacle side of skateboarding for last 10 years. That's not to say he's not a good skater in competitions - he's done his best to take home as many gold medals as he can, too!

In the year 2000, Danny had his first knee surgery. He would have 6 more thought the last 10 years, including having his ACL replaced three times.

But before you feel sorry for him, here's a list of his bigger achievements: over the last 10 years he's claimed the world's record for Highest Freefall, Longest Jump and Highest Air. In 2005, he took the distance record while jumping over the Great Wall of China, becoming the first person to do it without a motor! Danny's Mega Ramp has also become a staple in the X Games.

Ryan Sheckler provokes strong reactions in skaters. Some love him, and some absolutely hate him. He's like the Leonardo DiCaprio of skateboarding.

In 2004 Ryan Sheckler became the youngest pro skater to take gold in the X Games. Then, he swept competition after competition, winning first place more often than not. He's good, and his skill has won him a fortune. He's also done well with his money, keeping a fairly clean reputation and acting as poster boy for skateboarding. A lot of skaters resent him for this, but the truth is that a lot of the positive attitude we skaters have enjoyed over the last decade is thanks to Ryan Sheckler!

For a lot of people the first time they saw Rob skate was in 2003 when The DC Video came out. This was a revolutionary skateboarding video, in that you could tell that money had been spent making it! Up to that point, most skateboarding videos looked like a step above home movies. It was in The DC Video that people first saw the fun gimmick of Rob and Big, his body guard. People liked it, and Rob used that to catapult his career into show business.

Since then the TV shows Rob and Big, and Fantasy Factory have launched Dyrdek even higher. He is now on of the most popular skaters on the planet. Rob Dyrdek's skateboarding and show biz style have dominated the last decade.

The last 10 years have been all about Bob. He started off the decade winning TransWorld's Best Vert awards for three years in a row. Then he spent the rest of the decade winning medal after medal in skateboard vert contests like the X Games. Burnquist is easily one of the world's best vert skaters, and he has proven that in the contest arena over and over again, and he's still competing.

Bob also started the Bob Burnquist Foundation to visit schools and raise awareness of organic farming and gardening. He also co-founded the Action Sports Environmental Coalition that spreads a lot of info about ecological awareness through the Action Sports scene. Burnquist has spent this decade winning, and using that to try and save the world.

Daewon Song is a genius technical street skater - most people know him from his series of videos that he came out with Rodeny Mullen VS Daewon Song, Rounds 1, 2 and 3. These videos showcased both skaters, and showed the world that there are some incredibly talented and fresh skaters out there who you won't see at the X Games! For pushing the limits of what technical street skateboarding can do, and for reminding the world that contests aren't the heart of skateboarding, Daewon Song is one of the top skaters of the decade.

Paul Rodriguez has charisma. He's an excellent skater, and has won plenty of skateboarding contests and demoed his skills in plenty of videos, but what really pushes him over the top is how dang likable the guy is. In 2004 Rodriguez became the first pro skater sponsored by Nike - people might have hated Nike, but they still loved P-Rod.

Over the last 10 years, P-Rod has done his best to bust into Hollywood. In 2007 he was in the movie Vicious Circle, and it won Best Film during the New York International Latino Film Festival in 2008. In 2009 he starred in Street Dreams, the skateboarding feature film by Rob Dyrdek. All of this has been accomplished while still skateboarding in contests, and generating film for skateboard videos.

Elissa Steamer has dominated the world of women's street skateboarding for the last 10 years. In 1999, Steamer won the women's street contest at the Slam City Jam - this was the first female-only contest held at a World Cup Skateboarding event. This victory set the pace for the next 10 years.

Steamer was the first female to have a pro model skateboard, the first to have a pro model skateboarding shoe (etnies), and the first and only female skater in any of the Tony Hawk video games! In 2004 and 2005 alone, Steamer took 1st place at ten major skateboarding contests worldwide.

Jamie Thomas is in this list because he's not only a dominating presence in pro skateboarding, but over the last 10 years he's also slid into a dominating role in the skateboarding industry.

Jamie Thomas was well known for his Leap of Faith in 1997 (a 20 foot drop), but it has been over the last 10 years that he has really taken over. He bought Black Box Distribution (parent company of Zero, Mystery, Fallen, and $lave), and brought a lot of his Christian gothic imagery to his designs, while not shoving his faith down people's throats. Thomas also showed that you can run a skate company with morals and ethics. And with all of these business dealings, Jamie Thomas still skates in about one skateboard video release a year!