X GAMES IX: SKATEBOARD VERT BEST TRICK: GOLDEN YEARS AHEAD HAWK RETIRES VICTORIOUS ONE LAST TIME IN X GAMES.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

On the day he took his final competitive run and had a 10th X Games gold medal hung around his neck, Tony Hawk's greatest victory might have been in bridging the generation gap at Sunday afternoon's Vert Best Trick competition.

The adults among the packed Staples Center crowd cheered for the 35- year-old skateboarding icon, now a father of three with gray hair flecking his temples.

Their children screamed for the larger-than-life figure in the brown Quiksilver T-shirt from so many PlayStation video games.

Either way, young and old, middle-age weekend golfer or teenage skate-park regular, they all shared in witnessing Hawk make history.

With 15 seconds left in the 45-minute competition, which featured eight of the world's best skateboarders trying to land their signature tricks, Hawk launched into what now will be remembered as his final first-place run.

The only man to land a 900-degree jump (a feat never matched in the four years since he first did it), Hawk soared into the 2 1/2-turn trick with flashbulbs popping and the crowd roaring. He took a bow and flung his helmet into the crowd in celebration, his place as skateboarding's king secure.

Only minutes later, though, Hawk announced his decision to walk away from competition for good. He headed out the door to spend the afternoon with his kids before leaving today to film a movie in Australia.

``I don't want all the pressures of competing anymore,'' Hawk said, ``and all the scrutiny I end up falling under when I come here. I've got other avenues I want to explore, doing shows, and I have much more fun doing that.''

Hawk had retired from regular competition after becoming the first skateboarder to land a 900 at the 1999 X Games in San Francisco. But he returned to ESPN's action-sports showcase for each of the next four years, skating and as a commentator.

His future quickly became a source of speculation at these Games after Hawk pulled out of the Vert Doubles competition with longtime partner Andy Macdonald after winning six consecutive titles. And on Sunday, Hawk made it official: He's retired for good.

He will confine his skating exclusively to the traveling Boom Boom Huck Jam Tour, an Ice Capades-like exhibition of skateboarding, BMX biking and motocross that will stop in 30 cities over eight weeks beginning Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, Hawk's fellow professionals - nearly all of whom moved to Hawk's hometown of Carlsbad to pursue their careers - said they expect he will remain active in the industry. His ``Tony Hawk Pro Skater'' video games have sold more than 15 million copies.

``Tony's retired five or 10 times already,'' Vert bronze medalist Rune Glifberg said. ``I don't believe it until I see him in a wheelchair. He's going to keep (skating), believe me. He's going to keep pushing the sport.''

Hawk was the first of the age of millionaire skateboarders, a boom in the sport Hawk has credited ESPN with helping drive.

``It's been a good partnership for nine years,'' X Games general manager Chris Stiepock said. ``He paved the way for people to find kind of a middle ground between core and corporate.''

He only added to his lore at these Games. With Australian Jake Brown trying 31 times to land a tailgrab 900 - soaking through his gray T-shirt in the process - Hawk needed only two attempts to stick the trick.

He had hoped to land an indy 900, in which he grabs the front of the board with his rear hand while spinning, but Hawk rolled his ankle on the landing.

That forced Hawk to return to the traditional 900, which he never had landed before time expired in Vert Best Trick. This time, he landed it so cleanly, Macdonald said Hawk could have rolled right into another trick had he wanted.

``You can tell the difference from the first one he made,'' said Macdonald, who won bronze in the event Sunday. ``Here it is a few years later and he's making them, like, whenever he wants to. What was that, his second try and he makes it standing up. It's cool how he's starting to get it dialed in. It's just a testament to how long it takes to do these tricks.''

Hawk won gold in Vert at ESPN's first Extreme Games in 1995. He now retires from the X Games as their all-time leading medal winner with 16. Hawk said afterward he hoped to see someone join him in landing the 900 soon.

``I'm sure it's going to happen eventually,'' said Hawk, who has landed the 900 three times total in competition. ``I'd love to see a variation of it. ... I like to see the sport progress.''

The heir apparent to Hawk in the skateboard community is 16-year-old Shaun White, also from Carlsbad. A champion Winter X Games snowboarder, White turned pro in skateboard this summer and took sixth in Vert at these Games with an explosive run.

Swarmed by cameras and reporters afterward, Hawk said the circumstances of his departure could not have been more perfect - landing a 900 in the city where skateboarding was born more than 30 years ago.

``I went out doing what I love,'' Hawk said, ``on the move everyone associates me with.''

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 3 -- color) Tony Hawk won the Skateboard Vert Best Trick competition after achieving another first: landing a 900-degree jump in regulation time. The skateboarding legend first landed a 900 at the 1999 X Games. After the event Sunday, Hawk retired from the X Games as their all-time leading medal winner with 16.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer