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Italian Stallion
stuff. Compared to motocross, skating was kind of
slow and little.
So you wanted to go bigger and faster?
I felt like I want to skate vert ramps. Then the Italian dis-
tributor gave me a vert ramp for free and we put it in a place
where we have the skatepark right now. And I just start skat-
ing vert. Before I skate vert and street like anything, you
know. Then I start to understand kind of how to skate vert.
And then I find out I enjoy it and then I start to learn pretty
good stuff in just one year. Actually in '96 I went to
Radlands for my first contest and I got fourth.
In pro?
Yeah, in pro.
Is that when you got hooked up with Powell?
I got hooked up with Powell before that. You know
Bill Dorr?
Yeah, world's oldest skater.
I was really good friend of him when I used to go to Powell
warehouse in '91 or '92.
So you got sponsored before that?
Yeah, in '90 I was sponsored by Powell through an
alian distributor. I did the Powell tour in Italy on vert
and I couldn't skate it. I felt stupid. Bucky and Tony
Hawk and Nicki Guerrero were all there and I could
barely do little gay twists and little air. But I got spon-
sored as street skater by Italian distributor because
Powell wants to have a skater in each country. And
then in '91 I flew over to Santa Barbara to skate the
warehouse and they had a mini-ramp contest and I got
second. So then I got sponsored the warehouse.
by
By the company?
Yeah, by the big thing. Right after that contest I start to go
to Powell warehouse in Amsterdam and skate a lot with
Nicki Guerrero and Sami Harithi and sometimes Rune
Glifberg comes and stays with us. So I go there four or five
times a year and to United States once a year. Then in '93 I
got a pro model for Powell.
Italian Stallion
What do you skate in Italy now?
A year ago we finished the park and we have pretty sick
street course because my brother designed it. And I want to
build huge vert ramp so Duncan sends me over some meas-
ures and tells me how to design it and my father and my
friends Giuseppe, Lillo and my other friends help me build it
and it came out really good. Everybody who comes over
really likes it.
What's it called?
Marianna. It's a girl's name. It's part of a big collective. We
rent the land on the collective and it's called Marianna.
That's also the name of the fast food there.
You have your own fast food restaurant?
Yeah.
Do lots of girls come around to watch you skate?
Skateboard in Savarna, no one really understands it. They
just watch and go "wow." They don't even know how you do
that shit. They don't really care but I don't really care either.
Do you skate by yourself?
Actually, right when we finished some guys showed up
and I give them boards from Powell and maybe someday
they understand how to skate more. But these guys learn
so fast. Like they learn so much in one year that took me
so long to learn.
Are you famous in Italy?
No.
When you walk down the street do people
say, "Giorgio!"?
No. In skateboarding in Italy, I don't want to say legend,
but in Italy if people talk about skateboarding, my name
might show up. Because I'm the only one who could ride
vert in Italy. I was the first guy to do tricks and stuff. Actually
in Europe, besides these guys who skate here like Rune,
there aren't many vert skaters. There are sick street skaters,
but not like sick vert skaters.
How do you like contests like X-Games and stuff,
competing with the Birdman?
Actually, I didn't even want to do X-Games. I didn't
even go to the X-Games qualifier but it turns out Slam
City Jam was qualifier and I got like 13th or something
there; I didn't even check to see what place I got. So
Michael from Powell
in San Diego and I say I qualify for X-Games finals
company and whatever. But I didn't really want to do
it. I know Armageddon the contest is coming up and I
really want to do it so I talk to the Bosticks and I knew
it was an invitation contest. I heard about the new
vert ramp and I like those guys like Danny and Colin
should do it and it's good for the
Giorgio Zattoni
and I really want to skate with them. So the
Bostick calls me two days later and tells me, yeah,
I can do it. So I think, yeah, maybe I will show up
and I'll do it. Then when I was home some weird
shit came up with Powell, you know, we were talk-
ing about pro model or whatever so they make
me come over and I'm like, "Fuck it. I don't care.
I'll do it." So
So I go to X-Games and I'm like, "Yeah,
I'm going to try as hard as I can."
ty.
can.
Is that where the Zattoni flip came from?
I don't know. That ramp was the worst. So shit-
I hate it
s. I didn't like it. I just
e it. Shitty transitions.
want to skate at the Y for fun and then the con-
test came up and these guys were pushing me.
Jake Brown's like, 'Yeah, go down the roll-in
and do some crazy shit." So I thought, "Yeah,
I'm going to do it.
Is that when you invented it?
I did one in Panama City kind of straight up
and down and then at X-Games I figure I
don't care. I just want to stay on my board
and try to do shit.
Are you into contests in general?
Nah. I don't like it.
Do you get : nervous?
I don't get nervous at all. I just don't like it.
I don't like competing. It's not in the tradition
of skateboarding. There are so many skaters
who can do gnarly stuff but they do their
own shit. Then there are some skaters who
do other kinds of gnarly stuff. How can you
judge that? It's ridiculous.
What other stuff do you like to do?
OK, I dirt bike a lot with my friends at
home. We go out with the boat fishing and
doing crazy shit. There's a weird place
where I live. There's a river and twenty
Left: Giorgio kicks it in the sun.
Cab heelflip Indy gay twist.
Right: While it's no longer politically correct
to celebrate the birth of the famous Italian
Christopher Columbus (whom all pre-'90s schoolchildren learned
"discovered" America), feel free to whoop it up for Giorgio
Zattoni, the Italian who discovered the frontside Cab tailgrab.
Come to think of it, have a friggin' shit fit!
miles there's the sea and there's
this place on an island where people go to do crazy stuff. We
bring dirt bikes there and just tear up the shit. It's like mili-
tary island where they blow up bombs and shit and we laugh
about it because one day, one of us is going to blow up.
because there are some bombs that don't explode. And we
say that one day one of us will be riding dirt bike and do a
hundred-feet jump and the bomb blows up beneath it.
What about girls?
No. Right now I kind of hate girls.
Do you ever have stalkers?
Nah. Sometime there's some girls they write me
like, "Come to my place," and all that, but when I'm