Tas Pappas
| Tas Pappas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Tasou Micah Pappas 02-09-1975 Melbourne, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Professional skateboarder |
| Children |
Two sons and one daughter |
Two sons and one daughter
Tasou Micah Pappas (born 1975), better known as Tas Pappas, is an Australian sponsored skateboarder. He was previously a professional skateboarder, primarily in the discipline of vert skateboarding, and competed in a number of major international events. During the 1990s, he and brother Ben Pappas were highly regarded skateboarders on a global scale, reaching the top two places in the world rankings.
Pappas was born in 1975 in Melbourne, Australia and grew up in the north-western suburb of St Albans. He and brother Ben were the only children of a Greek-Australian father, who worked for a finance company, and an Australian mother who was a caterer—the parents eventually separated after marrying at a young age.
Tas Pappas described a chaotic home environment in 2014:
The family was very dysfunctional ... We were hurting as kids from a lot of the fights we saw ... I always felt like I just wanted to get out of where I lived. I wanted to prove myself. I ended up having what felt like a chip on my shoulder because of it all. I just wanted to get to America and become something.
Pappas became fascinated with skateboarding at the age of 12 years after watching touring American professionals perform at the Prahran skate park. He then visited the United States (US) for the first time three years later, before relocating to the US at the age of 17 years after he dropped out of Kings Park High School. Pappas' first residence was with other skateboarders in Tampa, Florida.
In a 1994 advertisement for the now-defunct Mad Circle skateboard deck company, an x-ray of Pappas' femur complete with metals plates and screws, is depicted with the tagline: "Tas Pappas, Mad Circle's Answer to the Bionic Man." Pappas then appeared alongside Moses Itkonen, Edward Devera, Mike Cao, Justin Girard and Scott Johnston in the 1996 Mad Circle video Let The Horns Blow.
Pappas won the 1996 World Championships skateboard contest over Tony Hawk that led to his world number-one ranking—he won with a broken rib sustained earlier in the contest. Pappas explained that he was "humbled" soon afterward, as he subsequently broke his back. Both the Pappas brothers then found that they were unable to gain favour with the American skateboard industry due to their attitudes, which were considered abrasive and wild. Australian filmmaker Eddie Martin, who knew the Pappas brothers as teenagers skateboarding at Prahran skate park, explained in 2014: "They’re [Pappas brothers] very Australian characters. They were so raw and full of passion. They just went over there and stuck it to them. It just didn’t go down very well."
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