CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — Gravity Sports History

At one time, seen as an outlaw sport, gravity sports has it's roots primarily in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The invention of urethane skateboard wheels made it possible to go faster, ride more stable and do things on skateboards that no one thought possible - including going down hills. Signal Hill, in Long Beach, California, made it's debut with various events featuring Street Luge, Downhill Skateboarding, and even skate cars.

This brought on the beginning of the gravity sports era. People from Darren Lott, Bob Ozman, Ron Amos, John Hughes, and others began skateboarding and street luging down places like Glendora Mountain Road. It wasn't until the early 1980s when an outlaw race brought on the illegality of the sport. Because of underground races, it forced the county of Los Angeles to enact a law stating, "You can not ride a skateboard faster than 10 miles per hour or on a grade steeper than 3%". This changed the image of the sports forever.

ESPN Begins it's media coverage

Starting in the mid 1990s, ESPN began having their, "extreme games". Later changed to the X-Games, ESPN sought out the sports that were untraditional. Street Luge and downhill skateboarding were among the first sports to be showcased in this event. Because of the craziness of the production, Street Luge was portrayed in a negative light for years. It wasn't until 2002 that X-Games dropped Street Luge from their line up, going to a more profitable format of arena sports. Other media outlets, including NBC and Red Bull have made huge contributions to the sport in the past, but the profitability never worked out as the logistical nightmare of gravity sports was shown by needing an extensive course. However, that was only the beginning of the gravity sports.

Today's Gravity Sports

Today, Gravity Sports is larger than ever. There are dozens of races across the world, and ironically, it is receiving more attention internationally than it is domestically in the United States. This may be attributed to the litigious society of the United States, but it could also be because of the freedom from many legalities and legislation that the United States places on it's citizens to keep them, "Safe". Gravity Sports has grown into several different genre's including Gravity Bikes, "Butt boarding" or classic luge, downhill rollerblading, and more.

The Sanctioning Body of Racing

Having started with the X-Games, The International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) headed up by Marcus Rietema and Bob Ozman was competing head to head with Biker Sherlocks, Extreme Downhill International. Once NBC dropped the Gravity Games, IGSA came out on the top of the rankings. Various political quarrels ensued after, but IGSA came out on top and unscathed. Often times a thankless job, Bob and Marcus endured many years of working long hours while losing much of their own personal money -- all for the love of the sport. Today, IGSA is the largest sanctioning body for races. Spanning the globe, they feature a multi country World Cup race that features the best racers in the world. They continue to grow their race schedule and look forward to a bright future with the IGSA.

The Future of the Sports

Despite the legalities that are crushing the sport from the United States, there are still many people that participate on a regular basis. From San Diego to New England, there are still those that have done it for decades. On the IGSA Facebook page, they currently have over 5,000 fans following them. As mainstream sports continue to lose their appeal due to their financial standings, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers going bankrupt, alternative sports are continuing their rise in popularity.

As more people are attracted to the Gravity Sports, it will be apparent that it is not the renegade sport of yesterday, but a mainstream sport with genuine safety in mind.