SAN DIEGO — He WOWed the crowd with his skateboarding moves in the summer of 1978 at the Oceanside National Pro-Am.
This week he was a big hit in News 8's Throwback. After seeing the clip online, professional skateboarder Russ Howell – who is now 70 years old – contacted News 8 to say he was the groovy guy shredding in the cowboy hat back in 1978!
“I wanted to promote professional skateboarding as a professional sport. We were doing a lot of shows, sharing the stoke. Apparently, it paid off because people are still skateboarding,” he said.
Skateboarding was Howell’s ticket to stardom. He became a two-time world champion and a member of the Skateboard Hall of Fame. He has competed and won competitions all over world.
Not even hip surgery can keep him off his board!
“I am part machine, part human – still a skateboarder. A lot of people say, ‘aww, you got a hip replacement, you can’t skateboard anymore.’ I never let it interfere. I still can skateboard,” he said.
Howell said he was just lucky enough to live out his passion.