Jay Adams

Jay Adams was an American skateboarder who joined the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also called the Z-Boys, as its youngest member in 1974. He was born in Los Angeles's Venice neighborhood and began skating and surfing at four, and his spontaneous, surf-inspired freestyle helped shape modern skateboarding. He entered the 1975 Bahne-Cadillac Del Mar Nationals as the first Z-Boy to compete, placing second in Junior Men's Freestyle. His low, bold, surf-like moves and aggressive vertical tricks made him one of skateboarding's most influential stylists. After the Zephyr team broke up, Adams helped create the brand and team EZ-RYDER, which was renamed Z-Flex six months afterward, and he was the face of the brand. In 2012 he joined the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, and he was featured in the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001), which earned Sundance honors and an Independent Spirit Award.