Greatest moments in action sports history

	Tony Hawk became a professional skateboarder at 14. Getty Images

By Justin Tejada, SI.com

Athlete: Tony Hawk
Sport: Skateboarding
Moment: 900
Year: 1999
By the time Hawk landed the 900 (2½ rotations) on his 11th attempt in the Vert Best Trick contest at the 1999 X Games, the official competition had ended. But the trick was so monumental, Hawk was awarded the gold anyway. Seven years later there are still only a handful of skaters who can successfully land the trick.

Athlete: Travis Pastrana
Sport: Freestyle motocross
Moment: Double backflip
Year: 2005
Rumors of Pastrana going for the double backflip had been circulating for years. He finally landed it in late 2005 for a motocross video and swore he would never do the trick again. But in the Moto X Best Trick competition at the 2006 X Games, Pastrana pulled the double backflip again for the whole world to see.

Athletes: Ross Powers, Danny Kass, JJ Thomas
Sport: Snowboarding
Moment: American men's medal sweep in halfpipe snowboarding at the Winter Olympics
Year: 2002
The American trio helped take snowboarding mainstream at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Powers (gold medal), Kass (silver) and Thomas (bronze) boosted huge, stylish tricks out of the halfpipe to secure the first American medal sweep at a Winter Olympics since 1956.

Athlete: Laird Hamilton
Sport: Surfing
Moment: Teauhupoo wave
Year: 2000
When Hamilton's ride at the surf break called Teahupoo in Tahiti graced the cover of Surfer magazine, the cover line read simply, "oh my god..." Hamilton rode what is widely called the heaviest wave ever, and the razor-sharp coral reef that was just a few feet below only added to his legend.

Athlete: Danny Way
Sport: Skateboarding
Moment: Great Wall of China jump
Year: 2005
Way was the first person to successfully jump the Great Wall without the aid of a motor. (A BMX rider died during a jump attempt in 2002.) Way rocketed down a 120-foot ramp at nearly 50 miles per hour before launching over the wall's Ju Yong Guan Gate. After floating an 80-foot method air across the gap, Way upped the difficulty level by uncorking three backside 360s over the wall.