It's been a good week for Ryan Sheckler. Last Saturday, July 31, in front of a capacity crowd and more than a million TV viewers, the 20-year-old skateboarder took gold at X-Games 16. Last year, things were different. In the third round, Sheckler landed badly off a 12-stair drop and his ankle more or less exploded. It was the worst injury of his career and immobilized him for six months. What happened? After the jump, the sport's wunderkind multimillionaire discusses his injury, his comeback, his winning run, and how it all ended in gold.
How did it feel coming back to the contest where you got hurt? Were you nervous?
No. I love to compete, and just wanted to go out and do my best, then hopefully come home with a win. And it worked out.
You pulled some really hard tricks on your final run. Tony Hawk, who announced the contest, said you combined the best parts your previous two.
Yeah. It all came together during the final. Everyone was skating so well, so I had to switch it up a little bit. I did that alley-oop—which I hadn't tried—into that whole tea cup area, then that full-cab back lip [a 270-degree spin into a backward slide] on the handrail. Those were both spur of the moment decisions.
The tea cup area looked like it was built by the Mad Hatter on crack and acid.
You had to really pay attention when you were airing from one to another, because there were sections missing, and they're all at different angles. Personally I haven't skated anything like that, but it's a little like a bowled corner at a skate park. They were a lot of fun.
Hawk also said it was going to come down to whether the judges counted the half-cab back lip. [They did.] That was the riskiest, most impressive part of your run.
I don't what I was thinking. After landing the backside flip up the step-up, I knew I had to do something good, so I just went for it and tried to stay on. I touched the ground, but there was enough momentum to keep going, and then enough time for one more trick [A frontside blunt on the LSD teacup wall].
Let's talk about your injury. What happened?
I tore the first metatarsal, the ligament between the big toe bone and the rest of the foot, so they had to put screws in and let everything heal.
You've had bad injuries, but never been out this long. What was that like?
It was horrible. I was off my board for six full months and going to physical therapy every day. Cold laser treatments, wobble board, that kind of thing. Injuries are part of skateboarding, but this was really hard. Though, you know, it was also a time to reflect on a lot of things. I also redesigned my skate park, which was cool.
In a recent interview, skate legend Rodney Mullen explained how an injury completely changed his approach. Has this injury changed skating for you?
I think it has. Now I try to just let it flow, and not worry so much about style. And everything's a little more aggressive now because I'm more confident being back on my board, so I really try to stomp my tricks with each landing. My skating now is a little bit harder and a little bit smoother.
The sport seems divided on the issue of contests, the idea of judging something so individual and artistic. What's your stance?
Personally, I like contests. I've always been a competitor, which plays out in my skateboarding, but there's also something very rewarding about perfecting a 60-second run. If you work on a run for a whole week, then bring it to the final, and you just nail it, there's nothing that beats that feeling. It's an adrenaline level you can't match skating on the street by yourself.
Who do you admire in the sport?
All the guys on my team. Paul Rodriguez [son of the actor Paul Rodriguez] is my favorite skateboarder. Felipe Gustavo is amazing. Scott Decenzo. And Torrey Pudwill, the new Plan B pro. He's absolutely bananas.
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