Freestyle skateboarding

Influential freestyle skateboarders of the 1970s and 1980s included Russ Howell, Rodney Mullen, Joe Humeres and Per Welinder.

Freestyle in the 80s was further influenced by female skaters, led by Diane Veerman and Leslie Miller, both of whom competed alongside men in freestyle contests, such as the 1983 NSA Paramount contest In Los Angeles, where Veerman placed 13th out of 31 competitors.

was founded in 1982 by Frank Hawk with the help of two other "skater parents", Sonja Catalano and Jeanne Hoffmann.

In 1995, professional freestyle skateboarder Stefan "Lillis" Åkesson started the International Network for Flatland Freestyle Skateboarding (INFFS) and, with Daniel Gesmer, produced Flatline and the online version Flatline Online.

Following the inception of these initiatives, freestyle skateboarders connected and interacted on a global scale in a manner that had not been experienced previously.