Rodney Mullen

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Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder known for freestyle and street skating. He is one of the most influential skaters ever. He invented many tricks, including the flat-ground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, the impossible, and the 360-kickflip. Because of this, he is called the godfather of modern street skating.

Mullen won his first world freestyle championship at age 14. He then won 34 of 35 freestyle contests, a record run in the sport. He later shifted from freestyle to street skating, using his freestyle skills to create new tricks like primo slides, dark slides, and Casper slides.

He has appeared in more than 20 skate videos and co-wrote an autobiography, The Mutt. He was born in Gainesville, Florida, and grew up on a farm. He started skating at age 10 and practiced a lot in his family’s garage. He studied at the University of Florida, majoring in mathematics, but left to focus on skating and business.

In the 1980s, Mullen skated with the Bones Brigade. He later joined World Industries, Plan B, A-Team, Enjoi, and Almost. He helped design skating gear, including Tensor trucks and the Uber Light deck. He also learned to ride with no fixed stance to protect his hips from years of skating.

Mullen helped push street skating forward. In his Plan B video Questionable (1992), he mixed classic freestyle with street tricks and added tricks like the kickflip underflip and the Casper slide. He continued to influence skating with later videos, and his styles helped shape both street and vert skating.

Beyond skating, Mullen has appeared in the Tony Hawk skate video games since 2000. He voiced a character in the video game Ghost Recon Breakpoint (2019). In 2022, he released an augmented reality game called Rodney Mullen’s Skatrix.

Mullen wrote The Mutt in 2003 and has given talks at MIT, the Smithsonian, and other venues about creativity, invention, and resilience. He describes skateboarding as more of an art and a lifestyle than a sport.

Today, Mullen lives in California with his girlfriend Lori Guidroz. He enjoys math, physics, biomedical engineering, coding, and music. He remains active in skateboarding, continues to invent and share ideas, and is regarded as a pioneer who helped create many tricks that define modern skating.