Tom Schaar just made skateboarding history: The 12-year-old landed the 1080° turn, beating favourite Shaun White to be the first ever to do so.
“It was the hardest trick I’ve ever done, but it was easier than I thought,” Tom told TNT magazine. “I’m pretty stoked. Best day of my life,” said the boy, who has been skateboarding since he was 4.
A 1080° turn is done by completing three full revolutions on the board in mid-air.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbjzZHuGTng&w=560&h=315]
“I did it fifth try, which I thought it would take me three days of trying it 40 times. I was definitely high enough and I could tell I was definitely spinning fast enough and right about at the 720 (second spin), I saw the coping again and I was still two to three feet above the coping. I got around that last 360 and I was just amazed,” he said.
Tom did the trick at the MegaRamp in Tehachapi, California.
“Tom’s a little giant and a spinning machine,” defending X Games Big Air gold medalist Bob Burnquist said. “Amazing. I look forward to learning a lot from him in the future. All eyes on Tom!”
Tony Hawk tweeted his congratulations to the budding star.
“I’ve seen Shaun White try 1080s and Mitchie Brusco crash-land a few… Tom Schaar nailed it,” he wrote to the young skater.
Last year Tom became one of a handful of skateboarders that could do a 900° turn.
Jeff Jewett, one of his trainers, said the young star’s future is “bright.”
“If he’s getting 1080′s at 12 years old, I got no idea! It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch, giving him the platform that is MegaRamp and letting him paint his own future on it is going to be incredible,” said Jewett.
Next step… X Games 18 this summer in Los Angeles, because he wants to skate the Big Air comp.
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