Thomas Joseph Lavin (born December 7, 1976) is an American
BMX
BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation.
History
BMX began during the ea ...
cyclist and the host of
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's reality competition series ''
The Challenge'' since its
eleventh season.
Early life
Thomas Joseph Lavin was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lavin first began to ride bikes when he was two. He eventually became a professional winning his first pro contest at the age of nineteen.
Career
BMX
He has entered events including 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 ...
and the
Dew Tour
The Dew Tour is an extreme sports circuit organized by Coalition 375 LLC, an alliance of elite action sports experts.
History
The tour was announced in late 2004, and made its debut in Louisville, KY in June 2005. The tour then made stops in ...
. In the X Games he took bronze three times, silver once, and gold three times (One was Australian). He has been a DK Dirt Circuit Champion, a champion in the
Gravity Games
The Gravity Games was a multi-sport competition originating in Providence, Rhode Island that was broken down into Winter (only held in 2000) and Summer (held from 1999 to 2006) adaptations. The competition featured a variety of extreme sports su ...
, a European championship winner, and a CFB Champion. In 1995, he was crowned the "King of Dirt." He has a BMX track in his backyard which includes several groomed trails and dirt jumps.
Lavin was competing in a Dew Tour event in Las Vegas on October 14, 2010, where he crashed and was rushed to the hospital. Due to the critical injuries he sustained, he was put into a medically induced coma and developed a case of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
shortly after. On October 20, Chas Aday, friend of Lavin, reported that Lavin was breathing on his own, following simple commands like squeezing hands or giving thumbs-up to the doctors and he was expected to make a full recovery. Lavin was able to return home on November 16, 2010.
According to
Bleacher Report
''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...
he is considered one of the greatest BMX riders of all time.
Lavin was included into the USA BMX Hall of Fame on October 29, 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Source: https://www.usabmx.com/site/sections/8 See photo of Hall of Fame Inductees for 2022.
Music
Self taught in playing the piano, Lavin used the recording studio in his home to record and release an album called LAVS the First SET.
[ In 2008, Lavin released the single "Soldier", a tribute to his long-time friend Stephen Murray. Stephen crashed during the Dew Action Sports Tour in Baltimore. He suffered a serious spinal injury during a double-backflip attempt on June 22, 2007. All sales from the single were donated to the Stephen Murray Family Fund.]
MTV
Lavin is the subject of the film ''A Film about T. J. Lavin''. He appeared on an episode of MTV's '' Cribs''.
Personal life
He married his longtime girlfriend Roxanne Siordia on November 2, 2012, in Las Vegas. The couple had been together for eight years and married on their anniversary. Through Siordia, Lavin has one stepdaughter, whom he has since adopted.
Filmography
Television
X Games competition history
References
External links
Personal website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, T.J.
Living people
American male cyclists
People from the Las Vegas Valley
X Games competitors
1976 births
American BMX riders