We are pleased to feature yet another ethnic minority that has excelled in the skateboarding arena. This time it is none other than superstar, Gailea Momolu. However, he would be the first to admit, quite modestly, that he’s just an ordinary person who has had a lot of help from others to obtain what he’s accomplished.
After coming across a quote in German, he was recently surprised to find that he even has fans in Germany. Gailea is from Ottawa, Canada having grown up in a place called Gloucester, a 20-minute bus trip from Canada’s capital city where he graduated high school and started his skateboarding career. In those days, he didn’t know much about sponsors until he met two friends, Dan Opec and Chet Thomas – it was Chet that shopped his sponsor-me-tape to talent seekers. This is how he was flown to Los Angeles, CA and got his first sponsor.
Gailea overcame many obstacles to be at the top of his game:
- He was only 13+ when he got his first secondhand board, after his parents said no to him getting a board. Back then, he dreamed of a career as an NBA star because he wanted to be a baller.
- He was living in a remote area for skateboarding – Ottawa although Canada’s capital is mainly famous for its politics, this is where you’ll find the Canadian parliament – equivalent to our Capital Hill, Washington, DC
- He had to take a train to Toronto or Montreal sometimes catching only the last 45-minutes of the skateboarding session at the Taj Mahal in Montreal that was two hours away to the north so as not to put down his board during the winter season.
This is a great story for all the young skateboarders out there – today he’s sponsored by Darkstar, Osiris, New Era Hats, Solo Mobile, Capix Helmet, lives in Vancouver, BC
and drives a 2006 Audi. He’s still a well-rounded guy that loves hip-hop, traveling, comedy, camping, snowboarding and played basketball and volleyball in high school.
He now spends two weeks in California and three weeks in Vancouver, BC probably to be close to his girlfriend who’s at the University of BC. He is saving for his retirement, to get a house and plans to return to school when his skateboarding career comes to an end.
Check out Gailea Momolu in actions! Video courtesy of Darkstarwood.com
This will take a few minutes to download but it's well worth it, dude is SICK!
Gailea Momolu 