NEW YORK TIMES
By MATT HIGGINS
Published: August 8, 2005

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 – Danny Way spun 360 degrees while floating above the parking lot before a capacity crowd at the Staples Center on the final day of competition at the X Games on Sunday. After landing, Way set himself and soared 50 feet high from another ramp, pulling a move known as a Christ Air.

With a big, smooth routine on the 70-foot tall Mega Ramp, Way defended his gold medal in skateboard big air, an event that Way, a 31-year-old from San Diego, invented in 2002. Way, who jumped the Ju Yong Guan Gate of the Great Wall of China last month using a Mega Ramp, brought big air to the X Games for the first time last year.

After winning Sunday, he credited the legendary skateboarder Christian Hosoi for inspiring him. “Honestly, skateboarding big air wouldn’t be possible without Christian Hosoi,” he said. “Christian Hosoi showed it was possible, during the 1980′s, to go higher than five feet out of a ramp. He raised the bar so high when I was a kid. I’m glad that in 2005 we’ve taken it to this level.”

Hosoi, 37, was on hand all week at the X Games as an announcer for the skateboard events.

A knee injury has prevented him from skateboarding the past seven months. And although he would rather have been on his board, Hosoi said he was thrilled to simply be back on the skateboarding scene after spending nearly five years in prison and battling an addiction to crystal methamphetamine.

“You need patience, because if I was healthy, I would be skating,” Hosoi said Saturday.

Patience is something Hosoi learned while in prison from 2000 to 2004 after pleading guilty, at 32, to possession with intent to distribute.

He burst onto the skateboard scene in the 1980′s, emerging from the Venice Beach neighborhood that was featured in the 2001 documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys.” He became a teen icon, not only for his powerful and stylish jumps, but also for his good looks and rock-star persona.

Skateboarding in those days was a smaller industry, but Hosoi was one of its biggest stars. He and a young Tony Hawk were pitted against each other in contests, and their contrasting styles caused divisions among skaters and fans.

“People saw us as rivals,” Hawk said. “People were segregated in terms of who they rooted for. They loved Christian’s big air, or they loved my tricks, and we would feed off each other.”

By the time Hosoi was 14, he had turned pro and was earning $2,000 a month. By age 16, he had credit cards and cars and was traveling around the world. At 17, he started his own skateboard company, Hosoi Skateboards. His nickname was Christ, and his trademark was the Christ Air, which Way pulled during his medal-winning run on Sunday.

But the pressure to be the best weighed heavily on Hosoi. “I lost the passion for skateboarding,” he said. “And the next thing you know, family and skateboarding was at the bottom of my list and drugs and partying and that lifestyle came to the top of the list because I was trying to find something that was satisfying.”

“You need to have discipline at that age so you don’t make horrible mistakes and get caught up in the peer pressure, wanting to do adult things at 14 years old.”

In prison, Hosoi said, he grew passionate about religion. He said Christianity provided a sense of peace and purpose that he had not known for years. “All the guilt, the burdens, the shame of me throwing everything away for that lifestyle came off my shoulders, and I had purpose, like when I was a kid, to do something,” he said. “I had a future.”

Since his release from prison in June 2004, Hosoi has spent much of his time in ministry. A born-again Christian, he is an ordained minister and travels around the country, using his experiences and his background in skateboarding to reach out to children. He has started a skate night at his church in Los Angeles. “We’re trying to make an impact on the youth, and I believe skateboarding is the tool,” he said.

Hosoi earns money through sponsorships from companies like Quiksilver and Vans. “The skating industry and community is thrilled to have him back,” Hawk said.

At the X Games here, Hosoi was at each of the skateboarding events with a microphone in hand, interviewing the athletes, many of whom had grown up idolizing him. The man known for his big air, who was an inspiration for a generation of skateboarders, said he was glad to be back and eager to show the next generation that he can still go big.

“I’ve thrived on competition my whole life,” Hosoi said. “I’m looking forward to doing the MegaRamp.”