Chad Knight was the first professional skateboarder to come out of the Columbus area. Born and raised in Westerville, Chad was a significant player in the Sunsports indoor scene, cutting his teeth on their fabled ramp where he would craft one of the most elite mini-ramp skill sets of his generation. Originally sponsored by H-Street during their legendary early 90’s run, Chad went on to move to California in 1995 in a classic go-for-broke tale of following a childhood dream. He would go on to ride for Evol, Gullwing, Pig, Dukes, Maple, Osiris, and 1031. Perhaps most famously, he was part of the iconic 1999 Osiris video The Storm. What people may not realize about Chad is that he’s gone on to an equally impressive phase 2 of his career in 3D design and fine art, along with working in the footwear design space for major brands such as Vans, DC, Nike, and Under Armour. Chad was one of the most requested guests since launching the podcast, and was incredibly gracious and open to all of my often esoteric questions regarding the Ohio skate scene of yore. Hopefully we can do a part 2 sometime in 2026 as there is so much we didn’t have time to cover. Lot of familiar names and characters mentioned in this wide-ranging conversation. Thank you dearly to all the listeners and support for this project. 2026 is going to be exciting. The merriest of Christmases and Happiest of New Years to all of you.
Thanks- CS
Timestamps
2:00- Background info
14:25- Sunsports
25:28- H-Street
46:40-Westerville Locs
55:00- Workshop
57:30- skating vert
1:02:15- Maple
1:11:30- Moving to San Diego
1:24:15- Sports Arena Switch Backside Flip
1:30:00- Working with big name photographers
1:33:37- Josh Kasper
1:40:00- Prominent San Diego skaters
1:44:15- The Storm
1:51:00- Alcoholism/sobriety
1:58:22- Pro shoe
2:05:20- footwear/Muska
2:15:30- 3D design
2:17:55- Finding success as an artist
2:40:30- part 2 interview
2:43:30- San Diego vs LA
2:51:15- Australia
2:53:38-Reflecting on Columbus
