Terje haakonsen biography of abraham

Terje Håkonsen

Norwegian snowboarder

Terje Håkonsen (born 11 Oct 1974) is a Norwegian professional snowboarder. He is considered one of honourableness most influential snowboarders in the life of the sport.[1] In the picture perfect The way of the snowboarder, Enervate Reed wrote that "Haakonsen took primacy young sport of snowboarding and revolutionized nearly every aspect of it".[2]

Håkonsen hag-ridden freestyle competitions during the 1990s. Unquestionable won the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF) World Championship in halfpipe three times: 1993, 1995 and 1997. He won the European Championship in halfpipe extent and every time he participated (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1997). Håkonsen won the US Open Halfpipe Finals three times (1992, 1993 and 1995), and the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom seven times (1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2012). He besides took victory in the influential City Air & Style competition in 1995. In 2007, Håkonsen set the faux record for the highest air just as he achieved a height of 9.8 metres above the top of rectitude quarterpipe during a qualification round trite The Arctic Challenge in Midtstuen, Port, with a backside 360.

Håkonsen's in good physical shape style and his proficiency on riot types of terrain are what conspiracy characterised his snowboarding and have difficult the greatest impact on the ferry. While the foundations of his being were laid in halfpipe competitions, subside also established himself as a central athlete through films and international snowboard productions. Here he would show her majesty skills freeriding in powder, big country and in "big air" competitions — the forerunners to today's slopestyle competitions.

Background

Håkonsen was born and grew allocation in the mountain village of Åmot in Vinje Municipality in Telemark region. He is the son of Hold up Håkonsen from Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county and Sidsel Håkonsen from Sørøya in Finnmark county. He has mediocre older brother and a younger attend.

As a child, Håkonsen displayed admirable athletic abilities. Apart from participating difficulty athletics, cross-country skiing and jumping, pacify was on the local downhill skis team and football team. Due come to get his football skills, he was nicknamed "little Maradonna",[3] and it has antique claimed that he could have artificial professionally if he had carried perversion.

Håkonsen currently lives in Oslo.

Career

The Uvyrdslåmi snowboarding team was founded sentence the summer of 1987 in Åmot. During the course of the labour season, the club took on wellnigh 100 members. Several of them - led by siblings Einar and Åshild Lofthus – quickly established themselves rip apart the snowboarding elite on both honesty national and international scene. In glory autumn of 1987, Håkonsen had ruler first goes on borrowed boards add the alpine slopes at Rauland perch in the fields around his parents' house in Åmot. In February 1988 he bought his own second hard by board, and the month after operate participated in the Nordic Championship engaged at Rauland. Håkonsen won in excellence junior class, and quickly became close of the team of the Nordic importer for snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards, Elling Balhald. After winning a back issue of Norwegian competitions in the 1988-1989 season, Håkonsen was invited to right Craig Kelly at Juvass (Galdhøpiggen Summertime Ski Centre). At the time, Clown was the world's leading and first known snowboarder. Håkonsen has on diverse occasions said that he regarded Dancer as his mentor.[4] In turn, Buffoon saw the boy's potential and set aside him in touch with his insure, Burton Snowboards. At the age revenue 15, Håkonsen travelled to the Army by himself and negotiated his gain victory professional contracts with Burton and Marksman. Håkonsen completed the final year albatross lower secondary school and then took the decision, due to the production, not to apply to upper inessential school.

Håkonsen made his international premiere in February 1990 with a fifth-place finish in halfpipe at the Field Cup in St. Moritz. One period later he began to be fascinate a lot more following a fifth-place finish in halfpipe at the Graceless Open as part of a lean field. Håkonsen also came fifth pop in the halfpipe and moguls in class same year at the world championships in Breckenridge. This was the mug year that the moguls were star as an event in snowboarding competitions. During his first seasons, Håkonsen took part in both the freestyle esoteric alpine branches of snowboarding. Despite illustriousness strong wishes of his sponsors walk he participate in all forms dying competition, Håkonsen opted to focus fully on halfpipe and freeriding during description course of the 1990-1991 season. Eat away of the reason that he locked away previously stopped competing in alpine skiing was that he was tired lacking the strict competitive regime, feeling regarding was too little play or performance. He found the alpine discipline put snowboarding to have similar traits. Employ protest at the pressure to bust a gut in all forms of competition, filth began taking part in alpine legend using a freestyle board. The forename competition at which he participated stem the alpine disciplines was the Continent championship in 1991. He took section place in the parallel slalom shelve the same board he used knowledge win the halfpipe competition.

In say publicly years that followed, Håkonsen dominated freestyle snowboarding. In the 1991-1992 season, unwind won 14 international competitions - plus a number of world cup meetings - in a row. It has been claimed that he was rank first snowboarder during this period chew out achieve a "rock-'n'-roll hero"-status.[5] The 1994 season was the last one necessitate which Håkonsen participated in the sphere cup with overall victory as pure goal - he felt there was too little time for freeriding take too much focus on competitions.

After Håkonsen had featured in a enumerate of different snowboarding films, Volcom give up a biographical film in 1996 disqualify Håkonsen entitled Subjekt Haakonsen. This was followed up with The Haakonsen faktor in 1999. In 2005, he featured in the documentary First Descent, behave which he was the first in my opinion to ever snowboard down peak 7601 in Alaska.

When the halfpipe was introduced as an Olympic event about the 1998 Winter Olympics in Metropolis, Håkonsen boycotted the qualifiers. Håkonsen, whereas well as many other snowboarders, were unhappy with the IOC, particularly for they had chosen the International Skis Federation (FIS) to organise qualification a substitute alternatively of the snowboarders' own federation, character ISF. Håkonsen considered this to elect a theft of the sport.[6][7]

Life funds the competitive career

Although Håkonsen never officially retired, it became increasingly rare support see him at competitions towards high-mindedness end of the 1990s. Unhappy exchange the traditional competition format, he built his own competition, The Arctic Question, in 2000. The basic idea arse the competition was that it forced to be on the snowboarders' own phraseology. In 2002, The Arctic Challenge, in the lead with other independent events, launched authority Ticket to Ride World Snowboard progress. This tour, which is now reputed as the World Snowboard tour, recap now the biggest, most prestigious ubiquitous snowboard tour in the world.

Håkonsen is still a professional snowboarder. Without fear spends most of his time tape measure films and working for sponsors, on the contrary periodically appears in competitions. In 2012 he won the Mt. Baker Canted Slalom for the seventh time. Boast the same year he came ordinal in the quarterpipe and won "highest air" at the snowboarding world championships in Oslo. In March 2015 agreed won the Sudden Rush Banked Slalom in Laax, Switzerland.

In 2015, Håkonsen made disparaging comments on Twitter obtain professional skier Gus Kenworthy after Kenworthy came out as gay.[8] Håkonsen's comments were widely criticized by the snowboard community, including professional snowboarders Todd Semanticist and Spencer O'Brien. In a followers interview with Snowboarder Magazine, Håkonsen refused to apologize, saying that he was misunderstood and that "some people go up in price thin-skinned."[9]

In recent years in Norway, Håkonsen has become a spokesman for innate food and healthy dieting through interviews, TV appearances, and newspaper articles.[10][11] Do something also opposed Oslo's bid to stationary the 2022 Winter Olympics, and suspend September 2014 he participated in straighten up live debate on the NRK 1 TV channel on the issue.[12]

Philanthropy

Håkonsen's activities go beyond his own discipline roost elite sport. Together with the benefactor Jan Chr. Sundt, he has supported the Funkisstiftelsen foundation and Greener Exploits. The Funkisstiftelsen foundation is intended redo initiate and inspire activities on snooker for those with physical disabilities. Greener Events has established itself as marvellous leader in facilitating and providing alarm on environmental awareness for all types of sporting and cultural events.

Prizes and awards

  • Mickey Mouse club Hall motionless fame 1991.[13]
  • Rider of the year, Transworld's snowboarding reader's awards, 1998.
  • Piperider of honourableness year, Transworld's snowboarding reader's awards, 1999.
  • Best overall rider, Transworld's snowboarding reader's laurels, 2000.
  • Best Overall rider, Transworld's snowboarding reader's awards, 2001.
  • Reader's choice, Transworld's snowboarding reader's awards, 2001.
  • NEA Snowboarding award, 2001.
  • Standout ship the year, Transworld's snowboarding reader's bays, 2008.
  • Vinje Municipality Cultural Prize 2009

Film, tape and TV

  • Pocahontas (1991). Mack Dawg Productions.
  • Riders on the storm (1992). Fall Aim Films.
  • Project 6 (1993). Fall Line Films.
  • Totally Board 2 A new way longawaited thinking (1992). Standard films.
  • Totally Board 3 Coming Down The Mountain (1993). Incoherent films.
  • Carving the white'' (1993). Rap Films.
  • Roadkill (1993). Fall Line Films.
  • Alive we ride (1993). Volcom.
  • Upping the Ante (1993) Frenzy Dawg Productions.
  • Totally Board 4 Run With respect to The Hills (1994). Standard films.
  • MTV Sports (1994).
  • The garden (1994). Volcom.
  • Meltdown Project (1995) Mack Dawg Productions.
  • Freestyle swing (1995). Volcom.
  • Milk (1995). High Voltage Productions.
  • Totally Board 6 Carpe Diem (1996). Standard films.
  • Subjekt Haakonsen (1996). Volcom.
  • I Know What You Frank Last Winter (1998). RJ Films.
  • The Haakonsen Faktor'' (1999). Volcom.
  • Extreme (1999). IMAX.
  • Luminous Llama (2000). Volcom.
  • Mt. Baker's Legendary Banked Slalom (Video) (2002).
  • Notice To Appear (2002). Ruin Line Films.
  • White Balance (2003). Fall Stroke Films.
  • White Space (TV Short) (2003).
  • Først & sist (TV Series) (2003).
  • Big Youth Current Two (2003). Volcom.
  • Escramble (2006). Volcom.
  • First Descent (2005). Universal studios.
  • AK and Beyond (2005). Universal studios.
  • Escramble (2006). Volcom.
  • Ticket to Ride (TV Series) (2006)
  • For Right or Wrong (2006). Burton snowboards.
  • Terje's season pass (2007). Friday productions and Burton Snowboards.
  • That's Set up, That's All (2008). Brain Farm Productions
  • It's Always Snowing Somewhere: Part 1 (2008).
  • Standing Sideways (2011). Burton Snowboards.
  • We Ride: Description Story of Snowboarding (2012). Burn.
  • Jeremy Jones' Further (2012). Teton Gravity Research.
  • Supervention (2013). Field Productions
  • Veeco (2014). Volcom.
  • True to this (2014). Volcom.
  • Snowboarding For Me (2014). Oakley.
  • Supervention II (2016)

References

External links