Surfer Mikala Jones Dies at Age 44 After Surfing Accident
Jul 11, 2023
This June 2022 photo provided by Dr. John Jones shows Mikala Jones, right, and his wife Emma Brereton in New York. Mikala Jones, a Hawaii surfer known for shooting awe-inspiring photos and videos from the inside of barreling waves, has died at the age of 44 after a surfing accident in Indonesia. (Dr. John Jones via AP)
Surfer Mikala Jones died in a surfing accident Sunday in Indonesia.
He was 44.
Dr. John Jones, Mikala's father, told the Associated Press his son died when his surfboard fin cut his femoral artery while he was riding a wave in the Mentawai Islands.
Mikala Jones developed a large following on social media due to his breathtaking photographs, often featuring him surfing inside a wave. He had more than 50,000 Instagram followers at the time of his death.
"He was a humble artist. His pictures were incredible," John Jones told the AP.
Mikala Jones began taking pictures of himself surfing in the 1990s, first creating a makeshift camera for himself as he rode waves and then later switching to GoPro technology. The passion for surfing photography ran in the family, with John Jones previously taking pictures of surfers during the 1970s.
Mikala Jones is survived by his wife, Emma, and their two daughters, Bella and Violet.
BMX Rider Pat Casey Dies at 29 After Attempting Motocross Bike Jump
Jun 7, 2023
CULVER CITY, CA - APRIL 23: BMX rider Pat Casey (L) and gusts attend Safe Kids Day 2017 at Smashbox Studios on April 23, 2017 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Safe Kids Worldwide)
BMX rider and three-time X Games medalist Pat Casey died Tuesday after crashing while attempting a jump on his motorcycle at a private track in Ramona, California, nicknamed "The Slayground," according to Teri Figueroa and Karen Kucher of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
He was 29.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, Casey had no pulse and was unable to be resuscitated. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"We are deeply saddened by Pat Casey's passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, children, parents and siblings," the X Games said in a statement. "A true legend in the action sports community, Pat will always be a member of the X Games family and an inspiration to everyone's life he touched."
"The world lost one of the baddest to ever do it," fellow BMX rider T.J. Lavin added on his Instagram page. "I'm so sorry for his wife and kids. [Pat Casey] will forever be remembered for the down to earth sweetheart of a guy that he was."
We are saddened to hear about the passing of BMX legend Pat Casey. Pat was a member of our inaugural BMX Freestyle National Team in 2018 and made his mark immeasurably on the BMX community. Our condolences go to his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/CUcYaLp6zd
Incredibly sad news from the BMX world today. Pat Casey #patcaseybmx, one of the best freestyle BMX riders who participated at NASS 2016, passed away yesterday in a motorcycle accident. đź’”
Casey medaled at both the 2012 and 2013 editions of the X Games before earning his first gold medal at the X Games in 2021.
He also was the first BMX rider to ever pull off the "decade backflip" and "double decade backflip" in competitions.
"Absolutely no words," BMX rider Tyler Fernengel wrote on his Instagram Stories. "I love you so much Pat. You were the first person in the BMX world that took me under their wing and love me and supported me. Living with you and your family was the best times of my life. I will see you soon my brother."
Micky Geller Dies at Age 18; Water Skier Won NCAA Championship with ULL in 2022
May 19, 2023
SANTIAGO, CHILE - DECEMBER 3: Micky Geller of Canada skis during the Pan American Waterski Championships on Lago Los Morros on December, 3, 2022 in Santiago, Chile. (Photo by Johnny Hayward/Getty Images)
Micky Geller, a national champion water skier at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, died May 6 due to undisclosed causes.
He was 18.
"It is with great sadness that the University will lower the University flag to half-staff in memory of Michael Arthur 'Micky' Geller on Thursday, May 18," the university said in a statement. "His friends and family remain in the thoughts, hearts and prayers of many at the University."
Geller was one of the nation's top young water skiers and was also named to Canada's junior national water ski team.
"Micky was a valued member of both The Ragin' Cajuns Water Ski Team and Water Ski Canada," Louisiana-Lafayette's water ski team said in a statement. "His love for water skiing was evident in everything he did, from his training and competitions to his interactions with his teammates and coaches."
Geller competed on the national champion Ragin' Cajuns water ski team in 2022, helping the program bring home its ninth championship. His obituary read he had a "full-throttle approach to life" and was "just cracking the surface of the possibilities that lay ahead."
Blake Johnston Surfs for 40 Hours to Set New Record, Raises Money for Charity
Mar 17, 2023
Blake Johnston surfs as he is setting out to break the world record for the longest surfing session on Cronulla Beach in Sydney on March 16, 2023. - Johnston sets out to surf over 40 hours straight as he attempts to smash the world record for the longest surf session and raise money for the Chumpy Pullin Foundation and Youth Mental Health. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former pro surfer Blake Johnston made history and raised money for a good cause on Friday.
Per TMZ Sports, Johnston set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous surfing session at 40 hours to raise money to support the mental health of youth in Australia.
Johnston began his quest for history around 1 a.m. Australia time on Thursday, when he entered the water on the beach in Cronulla. He rode more than 600 waves in nearly two consecutive days before finally ending his journey around 5 p.m. local time on Friday evening.
According to David Wu of Australia's Sky News, Johnston said he felt "pretty cooked" at one point during his marathon session.
"We're so immensely proud of what he's done and what he is setting out to achieve. This is all about honoring the legacy of our amazing dad," Ben Johnston, Blake's brother, said to Sky News Australia's Peter Stefanovic (h/t Wu).
TMZ noted the 40-year-old Johnston teamed up with the Chumpy Pullin Foundation, co-founded by Ben Johnston, to raise money for the cause. The event has raised nearly $350,000 so far.
Per the foundation's official website, its mission is to provide mental health support, education, create community and make a positive difference for youth, marginalized communities, indigenous people and women in sports.
The previous record for the longest consecutive surfing session was 30 hours, 11 minutes, set by Josh Elsin of South Africa in 2016.
Tony Hawk Posts Tricks Video to Show Recovery 1 Year After Broken Leg Injury
Mar 10, 2023
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Tony Hawk attends the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Max's "Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off" at The Bungalow on March 30, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by David Livingston/FilmMagic)
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk is back in the halfpipe one year after he suffered a broken leg.
Hawk posted video of himself completing a bluntslide on Thursday:
My recovery is going well. Here’s proof: my first bluntslide in over a year, with many more to follow thanks to a renewed health. #qunolambassadorpic.twitter.com/Y4cQ43iK3u
The trick came almost one year to the day that Hawk broke his femur. He announced on March 7, 2022, the injury required "plenty of hardware" to fix in surgery and recovery would "probably be the biggest test" of his skating career.
TMZ Sports reported at the time Hawk was skating when the injury occurred, though details of what happened were unknown.
After posting a pictures on Instagram of himself in December walking with a cane, Hawk took to Twitter to reassure everyone he needed assistance at that point because he recently had his femur "surgically realigned...in order to get back to what I love doing at a high level" and it wasn't a permanent situation.
Hawk retired from professional competition in 2003, though he did return to compete in the Vert Best Trick at the 2021 X Games. He finished fourth at the age of 53 in the nine-person field.
The California native became the first skateboarder to successfully complete a 900 at the X Games in 1999. He recreated that moment at the age of 48 in 2016 by pulling it off again on the 17th anniversary of the original.
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Pro Surfer Kalani David Dies at Age 24 After Suffering Seizure While Practicing
Sep 19, 2022
OAHU, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 9: Kalani David of Hawaii advances to the quarterfinals of the Pipe Invitational, the trials of the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters after placing second in Heat 3 of Round 1 at Pipeline on December 9, 2019 in Oahu, United States. (Photo by Tony Heff/WSL via Getty Images)
Professional surfer Kalani David died Saturday after suffering a seizure while practicing.
"He was surfing when he apparently suffered some kind of epileptic seizure and drowned," Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency said to the Associated Press (via NBC News). "The death is still under investigation."
According to the AP, the 24-year-old suffered from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a congenital heart condition that can cause seizures, paralysis and cardiac arrest.
Per Alexander Haro of The Inertia, David previously had a seizure while he was skateboarding in August 2016. He was placed into a medically induced coma for two days following another seizure at home in Hawai'i that December.
David quickly built a reputation for himself as both a surfer and a skateboarder. He won a gold medal in the under-16 group at the ISA World Junior Championships. He also competed in the 2012 Summer X Games in Los Angeles, placing 18th in skateboard park.
Legendary surfer Kelly Slater called David "one of the most talented surfers/skaters in the world" on social media.
"He was constantly pushing his limits," Slater said. "My condolences to the great family and friends that Kalani had on every beach around the world."
Tony Hawk Discusses Serious Leg Injury, Reveals How He Suffered Broken Femur
Apr 5, 2022
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Tony Hawk attends the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Max's "Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off" at The Bungalow on March 30, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by David Livingston/FilmMagic)
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk is no stranger to injuries, but the broken femur he suffered "feels different" from what he has experienced before.
The 53-year-old first revealed the injury in March:
Yesterday sucked. I broke my elbow 20 years ago and managed to make a full comeback; this broken femur recovery will take longer but I’m up for the challenge. Strangely ironic that it happened on the eve of @HBO releasing a trailer for “Until The Wheels Fall Off,” @samjones’ doc pic.twitter.com/xeVwwtQjVb
He explained to Esquire's Jack Holmes the injury and how it happened are emblematic of fighting a losing battle with Father Time:
I feel like it's a major warning. If you want to get into the weeds of it, I was doing a McTwist and I didn't really have enough speed for it. I knew that going into it, but in the past, and in my younger days, that's not a problem. I just tuck it up and spin faster and I force it around. I don’t have that same snap. I can't ball up the way I used to, but I refused to believe that in that moment. And suddenly I was on the wall when I thought I was still in the air, and I was not ready to ride back down the ramp. And so I was recovering from that all the way down, and that snapped my leg.
Hawk retired from active competition in 2003, but he continues to skate recreationally and push his own limits. In March 2021, he shared a video from a session in which he wanted to land one final Ollie 540:
"That definitely was the last one I'll ever do."
Tony Hawk became emotional after nailing the Ollie 540, a move he first completed in 1989, for the last time 🥺
In most other sports, understanding what you can and cannot do as you age doesn't present much physical danger. Maybe your drives off the tee become shorter. You can't hit a baseball as far. You can't blow past a defender on the basketball court and finish with a thunderous jam.
In skateboarding, Hawk's broken femur shows how badly things can go wrong.
Last month, he explained why he continues to skate at his age.
"The answer is complicated, but ultimately it’s because I have found my sense of purpose and shaped my identity through skating, and it nourishes my mental health immensely," Hawk said. "I’ve said many times that I won’t stop skating until I am physically unable."
He added that his leg injury "will probably be the biggest test of that creed."
Former U.S. Snowboard Coach Peter Foley Facing Multiple Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Mar 22, 2022
PARK CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 10: Peter Foley, U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach, watches training prior to snowboard cross qualification during the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at The Canyons Ski Resort on February 10, 2012 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Former United States Ski and Snowboard head coach Peter Foley has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by three former athletes and a former employee.
Per ESPN's Alyssa Roenigk and Tisha Thompson, the four women lodged complaints against Foley with the U.S. Center for SafeSport last week.
In interviews with Roegnigk and Thompson, the women alleged they "had to tolerate sexual misconduct because Foley controlled which athletes were selected to go to the Olympics and they feared he would retaliate by withholding Olympic opportunities or ending their employment."
One Olympic gold medalist told Roegnigk and Thompson that her complained filed with SafeSport "includes an allegation that Foley sexually assaulted her while she participated in a U.S. training camp he ran when she was 19."
At the end of training camp, she said Foley told the athletes they would be sleeping in the same room together before taking a flight the next day.
The athlete said at one point when she was asleep she felt Foley "sneak in behind me in the bed" and he "reached his left arm over my body and put his fingers inside me."
She went on to say she just laid "there in shock" and he eventually "just stopped and he got up and left."
Lindsey Sine Nikola, a U.S. Ski and Snowboard employee from 2006-10, said she filed a report with SafeSport last week alleging that Foley "coerced her into taking nude photos and later sexually assaulted her at a World Cup ski race in December 2008."
Nikola also alleged Foley said he "wants to do something physical with me" after he crawled into her bed and asked to rub her back, which she initially consented to after initially feeling uncomfortable.
"I am stunned because my gut was trying to tell me all along that I should remove myself from the situation and I was telling myself I was overreacting," Nikola explained. "But I wasn't. I said 'no.' I said, 'Listen. No. You're married. There's a million reasons why this isn't going to happen, but no.'"
She said Foley eventually touched her breasts and genitals without her consent.
Allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior by Foley became public last month when Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, a member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic snowboard team, wrote a series of posts on Instagram accusing him of taking naked pictures of athletes for more than a decade and making inappropriate and racist comments to athletes.
Erin O'Malley, former U.S. snowboarder, alleged Foley pinned her against a wall and tried to kiss her after a postrace event.
"What I can see in my mind is Peter's body pressed against me and my back against the wall of the elevator," O'Malley said. "From there I remember thinking 'Oh s---, Peter is following us to our room.'"
U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced Sunday that Foley was no longer employed by the organization. Rob Fagen has taken over as interim head coach.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport announced a temporary suspension for Foley on March 18 pending a formal investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct.
Foley spent 27 years as head coach of the United States snowboard team since its inception in 1994.