Skateboarding
Skateboarding
6 influential Australian Skateboarders of the Past 30 Years
From the 90's to now, these skaters have earned their place in Australian skating history!
When it comes to the ever-evolving world of global skateboarding, Australia punches well above its weight, both for its abundance of talented skaters and as a skate destination (hint: the Red Bull Drop In Tour with the world's best skaters happening this month).
World-class street spots like Melbourne’s IMAX and Sydney’s Martin Place are home to decades of history and countless groundbreaking tricks. Then there are the wild characters that come from down under – a diverse mix of street larrikins, tech wizards, vert legends, and contest killers who have helped put Australia on the international skateboarding map.
In the ‘90s, the Pappas brothers, Renton Millar and Jason Ellis put Melbourne’s Prahran vert ramp to the test, each going off to have international contest success and showing that Aussies could compete with the big dogs in North America and Europe. As vert gave way to the dominance of street skating in the late ‘90s and early naughts, skaters like Matt Mumford, Chad Bartie and Dustin Dollin emerged on the international stage. This torch of talent has been passed down through the hands of plenty of other Aussies over the past decade-and-a-half, with Shane Cross, Jake Duncombe, Andrew Brophy, Dennis Durrant, Dane Burman, Jackson Pilz and Jake Hayes all making their marks.
In 2023, it’s no surprise that Australia is on the itinerary for Red Bull’s Drop In Tour, kicking off in Melbourne/ Naarm on October 20, before heading to Brisbane/Meanjin, Gold Coast/Yugambeh, and Sydney/Eora.
With an all-star line-up of Red Bull’s international skate team, it’s going to be a tour to remember. So, with the Drop In Tour hitting Australia’s shores imminently, we take a look at some of Australia’s best skateboarding talent and what makes the land down under such an appealing destination for the heaviest skateboarders on the planet.
01
Jason Ellis
Jason Ellis Vert
© SLAM Magazine
Jason Ellis is best known these days as the co-host of Hawk vs Wolf, the hugely popular podcast he founded with none other than Tony Hawk. But Ellis is a man of many talents – he’s had an illustrious career as a radio host, a professional fighter and more recently, as a stand-up comedian.
Before all that though, Ellis was a little kid from a broken home in Melbourne. He got into skating vert and moved to California in 1985, at just 17 years old. Throughout the late ‘80s and ‘90s, he successfully made skateboarding a career and dominated contests. This set the bar for many Australian skateboarders who came after him, showing what might be possible if they were willing to move to The USA.
At his peak, Ellis’s career and lifestyle were as wild and turbulent as any rockstar, but he eventually reined in his hard partying and has channelled his energy into a successful career in media. Though Ellis retired from his pro skateboarding career back in 2006, he still skates vert to this day with his friend and co-host Tony Hawk.
02
Matt Mumford
He was tall, bald and stepping up to handrails like no other Australian before him. Matt Mumford grew up in central Queensland but set off to Southern California in 1993.
This was the start of a decade-long path of destruction that would see him go down in history among the best Australian street skaters ever to do it. In ’96, Jamie Thomas asked him to ride for Zero skateboards and Mumford went on to have phenomenal parts in classic videos like Misled Youth (1999), Transworld’s The Reason (2001) and Dying To Live (2001).
Part of Mumford’s legacy was his 20-stair Smith grind down the iconic El Toro handrail. Legend has it that he put it down first shot before his infamous middle finger salute to the camera. He’s also known for copping a nasty gash on the top of his dome and the messy-looking stitch job, as seen in the intro to his part in Dying To Live. Mumford’s handrail savagery is exactly the sort of behaviour that has led to the stereotype of Australians being these tough, fearless, Crocodile Dundee type characters.
03
Shane O'Neill
Shane ONeill Skate
© Sidewalk Mag
On each episode of The Bunt podcast, the hosts ask the guests who they think is “the most talented skateboarder on planet earth”. It’s an interesting question because it reveals that beyond raw talent, a skater’s style, trick selection, and choice of terrain are all part of what makes up their appeal. While Shane’s flawless style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, most would agree that Shane O’Neill is the most talented skater ever to come out of Australia. The man is a technical wizard, skating with extraordinary precision and putting down unfathomable ledge tricks with ease.
Shane O’Neill has won all sorts of accolades—he’s dominated the SLS, competed in the Tokyo Olympics and was featured as a character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game—but core skaters will never forget his nollie backside heelflip down the stairs at Wallenberg. It’s one of those infamous spots that has been around forever and turned into a proving ground for pro skaters looking to make their mark in the history books. Shane’s nollie backside heel in 2015 at Wallenberg is still mind-boggling to this day. Now heading up April Skateboards, Shane has proven that he’s got an eye for picking talent and the business nous to make an impact on the industry.
04
Chima Ferguson
Every skater in Australia knows of Martin Place, the huge plaza in Sydney’s CBD with a series of heavy stair sets, handrails and ledges. It’s a spot where Australian street skateboarders have come to make their mark over the years. But no one has made more of an impact at that spot than Chima Ferguson. “He’s the king of it,” said OG Sydney photographer Dave Chami. “He’s been doing stuff there since he was a little kid.”
Just look at Chima’s final trick in 2021’s Nice To See You, a behemoth ollie down a double set at Martin Place that no one has touched before or since. He got towed in with bike and wore gloves as he tamed this nine-flat-eight monstrosity. Chima won Slam’s Australian Skateboarder of the Year award way back in 2007 but to this day, he remains one of Australia’s best street skaters and is still putting out ridiculous video footage.
While pretty much every pioneer of Australian skateboarding has moved to California or Europe in order to establish themself, Chima is among the first of them to move back to Australia and keep his career going strong. This broke the mould of the Australian pro skater career trajectory, proving that at a certain level, he could live wherever he wanted to. Make no mistake, Chima is the king of Sydney.
05
Poppy Olsen
Poppy Olsen Skate
© SLAM Magazine
Hailing from the beachside city of Newcastle, Poppy Olsen has been in the spotlight since she was tiny little kid covered in pads. She skated big bowls at Bondi and Bar Beach and consistently pushed the limits on the competition circuit, from Bowl-O-Rama to the Vans Park Series to the Red Bull Rippers and eventually, in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she placed fifth. But this was really just the beginning for Poppy.
Beyond the comp circuit, she’s an artist and a spokesperson for women’s skateboarding, helping to inspire more young women to help close the gender gap in skateboarding.
Post-Olympics, Poppy has joined the Worble crew, who embody the fun side of skateboarding. Her part in Worble World is a great reminder that beyond all the podiums, medals and media stuff, there’s a side of Poppy that is firmly rooted in having laughs with her friends.
06
Jack O'Grady
Jack O'Grady Rail
© Red Bull
An all-terrain vehicle, Jack O'Grady is the sort of skateboarder that anyone and everyone can appreciate. He skates fast, hits big street spots and constantly produces footage.
He’s risen through the rans quickly, winning Slam Skateboarding’s New Gen of The Year award in 2018 and then following it up by winning Australian Skater of the Year in 2019. Since then, he’s turned pro for Pass~Port, put out a handful of world class video parts, had a couple of Thrasher covers and moved from Sydney to LA to make his mark internationally.
Hailing from the Cronulla Shire, on the South side of Sydney, O’Grady is still young but has already stacked a career’s worth of accolades. In terms of memorable tricks, it’s hard to look past his 50-50 to 50-50 handrail transfer that ended up on the cover of Thrasher, but then in 2023 we saw him ollie into a hairball bicycle ramp in London, blowing everyone’s mind yet again.
O’Grady’s full-speed, full-confidence approach to skateboarding will never go out of style.
Feeling inspired? Get along to the Red Bull Drop In Tour happening this month across Australia. It'll feature some of the worlds best skaters including Torey Pudwill, Zion Wright, Leticia Bufoni, Alex Sorgente, Jake Wooten, Felipe Gustavo, and Jamie Foy.
There will also be 'best trick' comps at each spot with limited edition Drop In Tour boards up for grabs as well as cash prizes to spend at your local skate shop.
Have you seen Ryan Sheckler's latest video Rolling Away? Catch it below on Red Bull TV.
47 min
Rolling Away
Pushing boundaries and defying expectations – it's all a normal part of Ryan Sheckler's epic skateboarding journey.
