Evan Doherty, photo unknown

When Evan Doherty nailed his first 540 in June (only 2 months ago…) it was kind of a big deal in the skateboarding world. Especially since Evan is only eight years old!! The news was so amazing that even Tony Hawk tweeted "540, 8 years old, nuff said." At the time, Curtix Hendrix, the owner of Dairdevil, the shop that sponsors him said: “Evan rides for our shop, Dairdevil Boards. We have been skating with him for a couple of years now and when that kat wants to learn a new trick, that’s just what he does! A blast to skate with, a great attitude, and a total shredder! Congrats Big “E”, can’t wait to see the 720 go down!”

You see, Tony Hawk’s "nuff said" was a bit premature, as now the prodigy called "Big E" (born in 2003!) just landed a 720; that is two full revolutions and a half one; exactly as predicted by Curtix Hendrix two months before… It’s a big deal because Evan is actually the youngest skater EVER to land the 720, and his future is only getting brighter! Congrats to you Evan, you are an inspiration to all of us.

On his blog, Curtis Hendrix says of Evan “The first time I met Evan was when they first moved to KC a few years ago. His parents brought him down to Penn Valley Skatepark in KC, MO and he was fearless. He did not have a handle on carving up a bowl yet, but you could tell that it was something he was very eager to learn. And learn he did! Evan now skates better than most of us old timers and with his rate of progression, I can't imagine what he will be like when he is 10 years old, much less 16 or 17!”. He adds that “This kid is the real deal and we are so proud to have him riding for Dairdevil Boards, and as a friend.”

Let's put this in context: Hawk became the first skateboarder to hit a 900 in 1999, and six others have done it ever since: Giorgio Zattoni, Sandro Dias, Alex Perelson, Bob Burnquist, Mitchie Brusco and now evan Doherty. Nobody has ever landed a bigger rotation, like a 1080. So the 8-year-old from Salem, New Hampshire is already within striking distance of a mark only a few humans have hit.

So, what did Tony Hawk say? Tuesday night he tweeted "today's news: Demolition Radio starts in 20 min & 8-year-old @evansk8r can do 720's."

1.Tony Hawk, July 1999 X-Games, San Francisco, California (USA)
2.Giorgio Zattoni, April 2004 Marianna HC, Ravenna (Italy)
3.Sandro Dias, May 2004 Latin X-Games, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
4.Alex Perelson, July 2009 Maloof Money Cup, Costa Mesa, California (USA)
5.Bob Burnquist, August 2010 Mega Ramp,(USA)
6.Mitchie Brusco, July 2011 Nescau MegaRamp Invitational, São Paulo (Brazil)
7. Evan Doherty, September 2011

You can also see the video on istia.tv