Rodney Mullen

Rodney Mullen
	Rodney Mullen Scarewalk 1988
Internet Links
Links
Profile
Native Name	John Rodney Mullen
Nickname	Mutt
Division	Pro
Nationality	American
Location	Redondo Beach, CA, USA
Stance	Regular
Pushing Method	Regular Push
Company	Almost Skateboards; Tensor Trucks; World Industries;
Born	Template:MONTHNAME 1966 (age 58)
Skating Since	Template:MONTHNAME 1, 1977 (47 years)
Deck Models	Rodney Mullen Decks
Tricks Invented	Impossible Ollie Impossible Saran Wrap
Books Authored	The Mutt Book
Sponsors	Independent; Powell Peralta; Tensor Trucks; Walker Skateboards;
Awards	Inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2013

Bio

Rodney Mullen won his first world skateboard championship at the age of 14; over the following decade, he won 34 out of 35 freestyle contests, thus establishing the most successful competitive run in the history of the sport. Over the following years, he turned from freestyle, translating his accumulated skills to a newer, different form of skateboarding. He is widely considered the most influential street-skater in the history of the sport, having invented many— if not most— of the tricks used today, including the street Ollie, kick-flip, 360-flip, Impossible, etc. As a consequence, Rodney was deemed “Godfather of modern street skating” in the Tony Hawk video game series, which featured his character over a span of about 8 years.

Publications: In 2004, Regan Books published his autobiography, co-written with Sean Mortimer. In their December 2006 issue, Los Angeles Magazine included him among their top 100 most influential people. In 2011, Cole Louison wrote The Impossible, a book on skateboarding as a whole, largely from the perspective of Mullen’s influence. Most recently, Rodney’s board was inducted into the Smithsonian– where he was chosen for a Professional Fellowship– and subsequently inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame. He is also featured in the Sundance acclaimed documentary, Bones Brigade, An Autobiography.

Beyond Skating: Mullen studied math and engineering at the University of Florida before co-founding World Industries, the largest skate company in the 90’s, which eventually was acquired by Globe Shoes, traded publicly on the ASX. He continues to skate and design, having earned his second patent for a board and truck design, just this year. His skating background combined with his more analytic interests have also opened the door to the TED community, giving talks at two TEDx’s as well as other similar— often tech— forums, such as PopTech, Foo Camp, etc.