| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Shane Cross |
| Born | August 22, 1986 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | June 3, 2007 (aged 20) Melbourne, Australia |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Skateboarding |
Shane Cross (22 August 1986 - 3 June 2007) was an Australian street skateboarder from Palm Beach, Queensland, who gained national and international prominence within skateboarding in the mid 2000s before dying in a motorcycle crash, aged 20.
Contents |
Shane Cross featured in both Australian and international skate magazines [1] and was interviewed by Thrasher Magazine in 2004. [2] He was voted by his Australian peers as Slam Magazine’s Skateboarder of the Year in 2005 [3] and featured on the covers of Transworld Skateboarding (February 2005), Slap Magazine (April 2007) and Thrasher Magazine (June 2007).[4] He featured in several prominent skateboarding videos and his sponsors included Legacy Skateboards, Flip Skateboards, Volcom and Globe.
On March 7th, 2007, Shane Cross was killed in a motorcycle crash in Melbourne. He was a passenger on the motorcycle, driven by Swedish skateboarder, Ali Boulala who was also seriously injured in the crash.[5] Prior to the crash, both riders were affected by alcohol and neither were wearing helmets. Ali Boulala was subsequently charged, found guilty of culpable driving and sentenced to jail.[6] Boulala was interviewed after his release by Huck magazine.[7]
The Australian and wider skateboarding community was reported to be 'devastated' by Shane's death with Slam Magazine’s deputy editor, Trent Fahey, quoted as saying “Shane would be the most naturally talented skateboarder ever to come out of Australia”.[8] Subsequently several memorial skateboarding events were held to celebrate his life[9][10] along with many tributes and memorial pages on the subsequent anniversaries of his death.[11][12][13] Shane Cross was included as one of the 'Ten Infamous Australians' in a 2011 Transworld Skateboarding Magazine article listing top Australian skateboarders [14] and one of 'Seven Aussie Greats' on the Adrenalist web site.[15]