Chris Edwards (born December 22, 1973) is an American former professional

vert skater Vert skating or vertical skating is a discipline using skates like inline skates or roller skates on a vert ramp, a style of half-pipe. In vert skating, the skater is able to achieve more air-time as compared to other styles of skating, meaning ...

. Edwards is widely considered one of the founding pioneers of the discipline of

aggressive inline skating Aggressive inline skating is a sub-discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate p ...

Background

Edwards was born Chris Denton in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and grew up in

Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...

. In 1986, he started skating when he was thirteen years old. Edwards' became known for his skating prowess at an early age, appearing in commercials and as a stunt double, as inline skating became popular in the early 1990s. In 1993, Edwards appeared in the rollerblading film '' Airborne.'' The film would go on to be a cult favorite and touchstone for the burgeoning sport of inline skating.

Professional skating

At age 16, he became one of the early members of Team

Rollerblade Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960) in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the com ...

. In 1995, the then Chris Denton turned professional and became Chris Edwards. Edwards would go on to compete in the inaugural Extreme Games, later known as the

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

. At his height, Edwards had several inline skates named after him, including: ''tarmac CE'' (Chris Edwards), ''Edwards Chocolate'' (street), ''Edwards Trooper'' (vert) and ''Edwards Daytona'',"CE Speedsters", and the "CE Hermes" circa 1994 - 1999. In 2002, Edwards appeared in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Aggressive Inline'' for the

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, and

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Vert competitions

*1999 X Games, San Francisco, California - Vert: 10th *1998 X Games, San Diego, California - High Jump: 2nd *1997 X Games, San Diego, California - Vert: 3rd *1997 X Games, San Diego, California - Street: 3rd *1996 X Games, Providence, Rhode Island - Vert: 3rd *1995 X Games, Providence, Rhode Island - Vert: 4th

Publications

* Irwin, D., Edwards, C. (2000). Inline Skating. United States:

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media cong ...

Pub.

References

External links

* Vert skaters 1973 births Living people X Games competitors Aggressive inline skaters American roller skaters {{US-sport-bio-stub Sportspeople from Minnesota