I was asked during an interview today:
“How does it feel to go to the Olympics and not be recognized by competing skaters, like Margielyn Didal?” So I had to explain that she was joking with her caption. My life is weird. pic.twitter.com/RvNQSFy7jt— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) July 31, 2021
MANILA, Philippines—Tony Hawk, arguably the greatest skateboarder of all time, has long been documenting his hilarious encounters with people who do not recognize him.
It’s become a running joke among his fans but someone actually took it seriously.
In a tweet, Hawk said he was asked in an interview how he felt that some skateboarders in the Olympics don’t even know who he is–like Filipino bet like Margielyn Didal–in the biggest case of misunderstanding.
Didal, the Philippines’ representative in the women’s street event, posted her photo with Hawk that was captioned “this guy asked me to take a photo with him and I let him because he looks like Tony Hawk.”
Hawk, an all-around good guy, had to clarify that Didal–who got attention worldwide for her infectious energy during the women’s street competition–was only joking and he himself was into the jest.
“I was asked during an interview today: How does it feel to go to the Olympics and not be recognized by competing skaters, like Margielyn Didal?” posted Hawk. “So I had to explain that she was joking with her caption. My life is weird.”
A shallow dive in his social media will show that Hawk, who has a video game franchise named after him, has always been the victim of people recognizing him but to the tune of “you look like Tony Hawk” to even people not knowing who he is despite his cross-cultural appeal.
