11-Year-Old Grabs a Skateboarding 'Holy Grail'

Gui Khury completes 3 full rotations in the air and lands cleanly
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 11, 2020 7:16 AM CDT
Updated May 16, 2020 7:00 AM CDT

A big skateboarding first is in the books, and an 11-year-old kid gets all the credit. In the sport's lingo, Brazil's Gui Khury "threw down the first 1080 on a vert ramp," writes Cassandra Negley at Yahoo Sports. Translation for those less versed in the sport: Gui launched himself into the air off a vertical ramp and completed three full rotations, or 1080 degrees, before landing cleanly, reports Reuters. See the video, via the XGames. The feat "has long been one of the holy grails of skateboarding" in the words of the Guardian. The coverage notes that Gui's maneuver comes more than two decades after Tony Hawk, at the ripe old age of 31, completed the first 900-degree turn in 1999.

"I was like, oh my God, what did I just do?" Gui tells Reuters. "I was just like OK, I landed it. Now I am going to celebrate." His father tells the outlet that the COVID-19 lockdown in place played a role, because his son has had more time to practice. "The isolation helped him focus," says Ricardo Khury Filho. Yahoo notes that a 1080 has been completed previously, though that one came off a "mega ramp," which is larger than a vertical ramp and allows the skateboarder to gain more speed before launching into the rotation. Thus, the "vert" distinction in Gui's case is important. (More skateboarding stories.)

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