Matthew Markland but often goes by Matt. 26 years old grew up in Wainuiomata Lower Hutt NZ but recently moved to Brisbane Australia to help him develop his skateboarding career while also pursuing the goal to represent NZ at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Matthew has dedicated a lot of his life in the pursuit of becoming a well-rounded and recognized skateboarder within Nz and is trying his best to prove himself amongst the top skaters in the world. Currently Matt is ranked 79th after attending the last two world skate Olympic qualifying events, one was held in Rome and more recently he competed in Dubai world championships.
Matt has managed to get to these events by working as a diesel mechanic to help fund his travel and also with the help of some sponsors here and there.
Before moving to Aus, Matt skated all around Nz making his name well known within the skateboard community.
Some noticeable achievements Matt had were:
1. Representing skateboarding on the Nz Olympic committee 42 day road trip around Nz. Towing the world’s largest skateboard in efforts to promote the new sports in the 2020 games.
2. Be featured in Manual Mag (Nz premier skateboarding magazine) multiple times.
3. Becoming the interim president of Wellington skateboard association
4. Obtaining multiple sponsorship from cheapskate skate shop in Wellington, New Balance Nz shoes, Riding for Headfirst and hardcore distribution as well as representing Arduous as well.
Matthew has always strived to do his best when it comes to skateboarding and embraces the essence of ARDUOUS. We are very pleased to have watched him go from a small kid in Wainui to being on the world stage. Keep an eye out for this big Māori man on a skateboard
