Tony Hawk Helps Unveil Utah’s New Olympic Skatepark

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk joined members of the Utah Sports Commission to unveil an Olympic-style skatepark at the Utah State Fairgrounds.

The popular skating company Vans, which helped build the park, said Salt Lake City’s focus and vision for the park, as well as keeping it open for free to the public to use, was a big reason why Utah was chosen.

“This park is state-of-the-art,” Hawk said. “There are some older parks around the area, which are still pretty good. But I think this one will really bring them into the new era.”

Because the Vans – Utah Sports Commission Skatepark is an Olympic-style park, the drop-ins are bigger, the banks are tighter and it’s overall more technical.

That’s perfect for skaters because skateboarding is now an Olympic sport starting with the 2020 games in Tokyo next summer.

“When people ask me, ‘are you surprised that skateboarding has come this far?'” Hawk said. “Not really, I feel like it’s about time. It’s as legit as any other sport.”

For local 12-year-old Brody Grine, all he can think about is skateboarding.

“I think it’s great,” Grine said as he watched several skaters at the new park in Salt Lake City. “I just love skating because everybody is happy.”

When Grine and his friends heard about the new skatepark at the Utah State Fairpark, they said they had to go.

They just never expected to see their skateboarding hero there, skating in the very same bowl they were about to drop in to.

@tonyhawk dropping in at the new @VANS_66 skate park at the Utah Fairpark. #KSLTV pic.twitter.com/r7ITEVwqK4

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) September 3, 2019

“He’s just huge in the skating community,” said Grine with a smile about the size of his skateboard. “He means a lot. He’s been a huge impact on me. He has basically got me into it, and I have watched so many videos of him.

Hawk was at the park as part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open it.

During a press conference at the Utah State Capitol earlier in the day, Utah Sports Commission President Jeff Robbins said Salt Lake City is the perfect place for the skate park and shows Utah’s continuing commitment to action sports.

Hawk also talked about how Salt Lake City was a place he would visit from time to time as a young skater.

“You’d be surprised, actually,” Hawk said. “There’s been a pretty strong skate scene in Salt Lake City through the years. I used to come here in the early 90s. I don’t remember the name of it, but there was a little warehouse skate park here. And, obviously, this was one of the few places where you could snowboard, up at Snowbird, so we had fun.”

Hawk will also be the announcer during the global broadcast of the skateboarding World Championships to be held at the Utah State Fairpark this weekend.

It will be the first time the event has ever been held in the United States.

More than that, this park is about the future of skateboarding.

“Skateboarding is big here and in Brazil, but not yet in China or Russia,” Hawk said. “Now with it being an Olympic sport, it will get more attention and continue to grow.”

With enough time, the next future Olympian could be skating right now in Salt Lake City.

Grine would love to be that person.

“When I’m older, of course, because I’m not good enough yet,” he said with another smile. “I think it would be fun.”

He also said he plans on visiting the new skatepark as often as possible.