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Growing up in the early 2000s, some kids had their Saturday morning ritual of watching cartoons on a plate of Froot Loops. My brothers and I, on the other hand, prefer to devour our Froot Loops before hitting one of the Tony HawkProfessional skater video games for hours and hours. Almost every weekend, like clockwork, we ran to hook up the PlayStation controller first and watch the other kickflip, nosegrind, and Indy 900 make our way to the high score, all while shaking our heads to the beat of the iconic soundtrack. hip-hop and punk play. . It was the perfect way for us to bond over a little old-fashioned sibling rivalry, as we grew in appreciation for the sport of skateboarding.
To this day, the Tonk Hawk video game franchise holds a big bucket hat-shaped place in my heart. My little brother and I continue to routinely play soundtracks out of nostalgia (pro tip for fellow fans – there are tons of fan-created playlists on Spotlfy!), And I recently bought one of the games back on eBay. because we lost the CD a few years ago. So imagine my excitement when Activision released a recently remastered edition on September 4. Tony Hawk’s 1 + 2 pro skater, the game combines original skaters, levels, tricks and songs from previous versions with new options for players, so yeah, I’m more than ready to see if it lives up to the hype.
Before the game’s debut, I caught up with three of the badass skaters featured as playable characters – Aori Nishimura, Elissa Steamer, and Lizzie Armanto – to chat about what first inspired them to take a board, their personal experiences with sexism in sports, and more. Learn a little more about each talented athlete below before diving into our conversations later.
- Aori Nishimura: A new addition to the Tony Hawk’s professional skater franchise, Aori is expected to represent his home country Japan at the rescheduled Summer Olympics next year. At just 19 years old, she already has five X Games medals under her belt and was named the women’s skating world champion at a Street League event last January.
- Elissa Steamer: The only woman to appear in Tony Hawk’s first two video games, Elissa is a four-time X Games gold medalist and has been succeeding in the sport since the 1990s. She launched a skate brand called Gnarhunters and was featured in an advertisement for Nike along with other athletes last year, to name just a few notable recent accomplishments from their legendary career.
- Lizzie Armanto: A 27-year-old skater with more than 30 awards to her name, Lizzie first became a playable character on THPS 5 in 2015. She will represent Finland as she competes in the skating competition in the women’s park at the Olympics next year, and a fun fact: she is the only girl in the world to successfully complete Tony Hawk’s cycle 360, a ramp built in a perfect circle.
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