31 Facts About Mat Hoffman

Mathew Hoffman was born on January 9,1972 and is a professional American BMX rider who was considered one of the best vert ramp riders in the history of the sport.

Mat Hoffman was nicknamed "The Condor" and ran the BMX Freestyle brand Hoffman BMX Bikes based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Mat Hoffman was a sponsored rider for Skyway and then Haro Bikes before starting his own brand.

Mathew Hoffman was born on January 9,1972, in Edmond, Oklahoma, to Joni and Matthew Hoffman.

Mat Hoffman has two sisters, Lina and Gina, and two brothers, Todd and Travis.

Mat Hoffman came back with a weird look on his face that said the call hadn't gone well.

Mat Hoffman first came to the attention of people outside of Edmond, Oklahoma when a letter and photo appeared in the Street Talk section of Freestylin' Magazine's August 1986 issue.

In 1986 Mat Hoffman entered two national freestyle competitions as an unsponsored rider.

Mat Hoffman was prepared to enter as an amateur but his father convinced him to enter as an expert for the competition.

Mat Hoffman was one of the only riders to wear a full face helmet and JT motocross body armor.

Mat Hoffman had learned to ride BMX with a few friends and with no professionals for reference other than from magazine pictures.

In July 1986, Mat Hoffman signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Skyway Recreation.

On December 13,1986, Mat Hoffman rode in his first 2-Hip King of Vert contest at Ron Wilkerson's The Enchanted Ramp in Encinitas, California.

Mat Hoffman was popping off eight to nine-foot aerials, no-footed cancans, regular cancans, no handers and all sorts of other tricks.

Mat Hoffman was actually radder during practice than he was in his run, but still rad enough in his run that there was no doubt who had won.

Mat Hoffman dubbed it The Secret Ninja Ramp and it was made for year round training as opposed to shoveling the snow off his previous ramp.

Mat Hoffman's father donated the space and Hoffman's Skyway salary paid for the materials.

At the 1989 2-Hip King of Vert finals in Irvine, California, Hoffman competes in first contest as a professional while still competing as an amateur.

The amateurs rode first and Hoffman placed first then turned pro after his run and took first in the pro class.

In late 1991 after leaving Haro, Mat Hoffman began the seeds of Hoffman Bikes.

Linn Kasten the founder and engineer of Redline Bicycles helped Mat Hoffman develop a frame and fork and made him five prototype Condor sets in his shop in California.

Mat Hoffman developed the Bicycle Stunt series to give riders a place to compete and to showcase their talents.

In 2001, Mat Hoffman competed at the X Games, earning the bronze medal.

Mat Hoffman stunned the industry and fans, alike, when he set another record by successfully completing the first-ever No-handed 900 at the 2002 X Games, resulting in the silver medal.

Mat Hoffman was the first person to ride an oversized ramp in 1993 with his first High Air attempt off of a 24-foot quarter pipe.

When Mat Hoffman achieved 26.6 feet above the ramp in March 1999 to 2001, he had a team of four professional photographers, an elaborate scaffolding system to record the attempt at different angles and had an ABC Wide World of Sports camera crew on-site.

Mat Hoffman is credited with being the first person to perform a double peg grind down a handrail, as documented in the video Head First, released in 1991.

In 2005, Mat Hoffman was elected president of the International BMX Freestyle Federation, the international governing body of BMX Freestyle.

In February 2018, Mat Hoffman was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

An ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled The Birth of Big Air, directed and produced by Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze and Mat Hoffman himself, was released in July 2010.

Mat Hoffman appeared as an unlockable playable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, produced by Activision.