Nyjah Imani Huston (/ˈnaɪʒəˈhjuːstən/NYE-zhə HEW-stən; born November 30, 1994)[5] is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world.[6][7] Huston won gold medals at the SLS Super Crown World Championship in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2024, and has won 15 gold medals at the X Games since 2011.[8][9] Huston won his first Olympic medal, a bronze, in the 2024 Olympic men's street event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Huston was born in Davis, California. Raised in a strict Rastafarian lifestyle by his father Adeyemi, Huston and his siblings were vegans and were homeschooled by their mother Kelle. Adeyemi was a skateboarder and made his son start skating when Nyjah was only five years old. Huston had stated that his father was very controlling and wanted Nyjah to skate every day.[20] In 2004, his parents purchased an indoor skate park in nearby Woodland, California to allow Huston more practice time.[21] In 2006, his father abruptly decided to move to Puerto Rico with his family,[21] causing problems with Huston's board sponsor Element Skateboards because he was unable to participate in demos. While in Puerto Rico, Huston's parents separated and his mother moved back to California with Nyjah's siblings. Because Adeyemi was his manager and videographer at the time, Huston stayed with his father in Puerto Rico and did not see his mother for a year. When Kelle was granted full custody upon divorcing Adeyemi, Huston moved back to live with his mother and siblings.[22]
Skateboarding career
Huston first garnered attention when he signed a sponsorship deal with Element Skateboards and joined their team. During his debut era with the company, Huston appeared in numerous Element video productions, such as both volumes of the Elementality series, and competed in high-profile contests, such as the Dew tour and the Vans Downtown Showdown. However, Huston eventually launched his own skateboard deck company, I&I, in 2009[23] after he parted ways with Element in 2008; Huston was an amateur skateboarder at the time of his departure.[24]
Between 2010 and 2020 Huston finished in the top 2 of the Street Skateboarding World Championships every year, winning 6 gold medals and 4 silver medals in this time. He has also seen much success in the street classification at the X Games, in which he has won 12 gold medals since 2011. This competition success is largely the reason that Huston is one of the wealthiest professional skateboarders in the world; his net worth of 2022 is $12 million.[25]
In addition to his competitive success, Huston is also known for his technical ability and style on a skateboard.
Aside from his success in competition, Huston has also been featured in several popular skateboarding videos, including his own video parts in the series "Elementality" and "Rise and Shine". He has also collaborated with several major skateboarding brands, including Element Skateboards, Nike SB, and DC Shoes.
I&I was a short-lived company and operated for approximately two years with a team that consisted of Huston, Richard Jefferson, and Anthony Williams. During the period of the company's existence, a number of magazine advertisements were published and an online promotional video that featured the three team members was released. The primary aesthetic influence of the brand was Rastafari and the I&I logo incorporated the pan-African colors of red, yellow, and green.[23][26]
Following the closure of I&I, Huston returned to Element and released a solo video production entitled Rise & Shine in 2011—the video was available for purchase on the iTunes website and later received the "Best Video Part" award from the Transworld Skateboarding magazine. During this stage of Huston's career, the skateboarder also joined the DC Shoes company as a team rider, following a significant period of time without a shoe sponsor—an unusual occurrence for a professional skateboarder with the degree of exposure that Huston had attracted. In response to the DC Shoes announcement, Huston explained that "I think it was all a buildup of things over the past year. DC has always been my top choice for a shoe sponsor but I think it took this past year for them to see what I've accomplished and how I did in the contests and my video part and all that for it to finally come through."[27]
Following Huston's decision to skateboard for DC Shoes, other DC team riders expressed their perspectives in online promotional material produced by the shoe company. Long-term DC team rider Josh Kalis stated in the introductory video for Huston (also featuring Mike Mo Capaldi), "And then there's this other dude out there, literally buying shoes from a skate shop. He could get shoes from anybody that he wanted, but he was buying DCs." Capaldi expressed his opinion on Huston in the same video, stating his belief that Huston is "probably the best skateboarder I've ever seen—he does everything in, like, two tries."[28]
After Huston's gold medal victory at the 2013 X Games Street League contest in Barcelona, Spain in mid-May, Transworld SKATEboarding magazine announced that no other skateboarder has won a greater amount of prize money.[29] On the final night of May 2013, the DC Shoes Co. held a launch event for the first signature model skate shoe of Huston's career at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California, U.S., with Pete Rock in the role of DJ. The model is named the "Nyjah Huston Signature Shoe" and the promotional advertisement features Huston executing a trick at set of stairs at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, U.S.[30]
An announcement on June 25, 2013, revealed that, due to a rib injury, Huston was unable to compete in the Street League contest at the Munich X Games in late June 2013. Huston's mother Kelle Huston reported that her son "bruised and scraped the right side of his torso" in a skateboarding accident, but an article from the Street League website stated that Huston would be fit to compete in the next contest round in July 2013 in Portland, Oregon.[31] Also in 2013, Huston made a statement to Thrasher Magazine in which he questioned the appropriateness of female skateboarders. He later apologized for his remarks.[32]
Huston qualified for the United States Olympic Team in the Street Skateboarding discipline for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - the first year for skateboarding at the Olympics.[36][37] He qualified for the Olympic final out of his heat (heat 3), but did not win any medal. After high scores in his runs and landing the first of five best trick attempts, Huston subsequently fell four times in a row to finish seventh.[38] In his return at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Huston managed to get the bronze.[39]
Sponsorship
As of January 2021, Huston is sponsored by Nike SB, Diamond Supply Co., Ricta Wheels, Thrasher Magazine, Monster Energy, SoWellCBD.fr, Doritos, Mob Grip, Mountain Dew, flatbread Neapolitan pizzeria, Urban Plates and Adapt Technology.[40] As of January 2021, Nyjah Huston stated via social media that he is no longer with Element Skateboards.[41] In June 2021, Huston launched his own skateboard brand, Disorder Skateboards.[42]
Awards
Huston won the inaugural "Kentucky Unbridled Spirit Award for Action Sports" in 2006.[43]
At Transworld SKATEboarding magazine's 2012 awards event, Huston's performance was given the headline "Nyjah Huston Cleans Up at Annual Transworld Skate Awards" by the Yahoo! Sports website. Huston won three awards at the event: "Best Video Part" (for Huston's Rise & Shine video release), "New Era Readers' Choice" (the only award chosen solely by the readers of the magazine and Transworld website), and "Best Street".[44][45]
Huston has been nominated several times for Thrasher Magazine’s prestigious "Skater Of The Year" (SOTY) award.[46][47]
In July 2020 Huston collaborated with Play'n GO to develop his own branded game Nyjah Huston Skate for Gold. It is one of the first skateboarding-themed games to be released by the online gambling industry.[52]
Philanthropy
In 2008, Huston and his mother Kelle founded the charity organization Let It Flow, which aimed to provide clean, safe, and accessible water to communities in need. Following their personal experiences in Puerto Rico, the pair started by selling reusable water bottles at a local farmers market and, as of December 2012, the organization builds clean-water wells, fixes wells that are inoperable, and builds sanitation stations for people in urgent need of clean water. Let It Flow built its first sanitation station in Ethiopia.[53] As of August 2024, Let It Flow appears to no longer be active.[54]
Personal life
Family
Following his return to Element, Huston revealed that his father's controlling behavior had led to estrangement, further explaining that his father refused to return video footage of Huston's skateboarding following the separation. He no longer adheres to a strict Rastafarian lifestyle, cut off his dreadlocks and has identified hip hop as his favorite musical genre to listen to.[55]
Legal issues
In 2017, Huston was arrested for assaulting a man at a party and was sentenced to 24 months probation after pleading no contest to one misdemeanour count of disturbing the peace.[56] In 2022, Huston was sued for allegedly assaulting a man in an altercation; Huston countersued, claiming he was assaulted.[57][58]
^TheFluidSkater (February 5, 2010). "I&I Skateboards Team"(Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^DCshoesFILM (December 31, 2011). "DC SHOES: REDISCOVER DC - TEAM 2012"(Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
^Rob Brink (December 6, 2012). "Nyjah Huston's 'Let It Flow'". ESPN X Games. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
^WhosSexier (October 17, 2010). "Nyjah Huston Tampa Am 2005"(Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
^joboloba (October 11, 2007). "nyjah gvr regular vs goofy"(Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
^"TAMPA PRO 2013 BEST TRICK". TransWorld Skateboarding. Bonnier Corporation. March 24, 2013. Archived from the original(Video upload) on May 29, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
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