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Tom Schaar was the archetypal skateboarding prodigy; the youngest ever X Games gold medallist, the youngest ever Vans Pool Party champion, the first to spin a 1080 (at age 12 no less) and all the media trappings that come part and parcel. This also means, much like those before him, he was treated with a certain amount of contempt by older (and less accomplished) skaters.
Hawk went through it in the 80's, with rival skater's fans spitting on him, and the mocking of Ryan Sheckler reached peak meme in the "double pits to chesty" era. But, to quote a trite phrase, pressure makes diamonds and much like Sheckler's infamous 'Bust or Bail' performance, 'Airborne' from Tom Schaar firmly shuts down the naysayers being, as it is, almost certainly the best transition focussed part you'll see this year.
But please don't let that tag put you off if ramp skating isn't your thing. Whilst the big air stuff is every bit as ground breaking as you'd hope (have you ever seen a 15ft high fakie ollie before?) the street and back yard pool stuff is where Tom really sets himself apart. Honestly, instead of us faffing about with flowery prose to try to illustrate the importance of this part we're just gonna tell you straight up: this is absolutely mind blowing, watch it now!
