Watch: With extra time to practice, 11-year-old breaks skateboarding record
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Brazilian skater Gui Khury, 11, is the first person to complete a 1080-degree turn, or three full rotations, on a vertical ramp.
Khury broke news of his feat on his Instagram account on Friday. The video shows the skateboarder flying up off the half-pipe, spinning three times, and seamlessly skating back down. The historic move plays three times over, once in slow motion, with the caption "1080!!!I have no words to explain what just happened..."
Khury smashed the previous 900-degree record on a vertical ramp (or "vert") held by skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Hawk made his historic move in 1999, almost a decade before Khury was born. Since Hawk set the record, several skateboarders have matched it. Khury himself became the youngest person to successfully complete a 900 on vert at 8 years old.
Khury's video circulated widely on social media and garnered a slew of astonished reactions, especially after it was reposted by stars like Hawk.
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The elusive 1080 is widely viewed as one of most difficult moves in the sport. It has only been completed successfully by a handful of skateboarders, and never on vert. In 2012, then-12-year-old Tom Schaar became the first skateboarder to complete the move. Schaar did his 1080 on a mega ramp, a larger version of the vert, which allowed him to build up more momentum.
Khury's new achievement again brings into question whether the move might be easier for children to complete, an idea initially posed after Schaar's feat.
The coronavirus and social distancing actually helped Khury achieve the 1080, his father Ricardo Khury Filho told Reuters. School closures in Brazil gave the young skater more time and energy than usual to practice, Filho said. His grandmother has several structures in her backyard that Khury uses to practice.
The record comes as skateboarding was set to debut as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Summer Olympics this year. But fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has postponed the event until at least 2021, and put into question whether it will be able to happen at all.
For now, the young skater says he's not done. He's already moved on to his next goal: a 1260 on vert, or 3.5 rotations in the air.
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