Ali Boulala (born January 28, 1979) is a Swedish professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...

, who has appeared in the

Flip Skateboards Flip Skateboards is a United States-based international skateboard company, co-owned by Jeremy Fox and Ian Deacon. The company produces skateboard hard goods (decks, wheels, bearings, completes, and hardware), soft goods (T-shirts, tops, sweats ...

videos ''Sorry'' and ''Really Sorry'',

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

' ''Subject to Change'', and numerous Baker Skateboards videos.

Early life

Boulala was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and is of

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

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n descent.

Professional skateboarding

Boulala is sponsored by Flip Skateboards,

Independent trucks Independent Truck Company is a skateboard truck manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, California. Established in 1978, the company is owned by NHS, Inc. and sponsors an extensive list of team riders. History The company was co-founded by Richard No ...

and Flip wheels. In 2010, Boulala was invited to rejoin the Kr3w Clothing Team, but is no longer listed as a team member on the brand's website as of 2014. Boulala's skateboarding concentrated on the unusual, as he preferred to skate in obscure locations and experiment with skateboard tricks. He is also well known for his attempt to

ollie Ollie is a given name and a nickname, often as a shortened form of Oliver, Olive, Olympia, Olga or Olivia. Variants include Olie, Oli, Oly and Olly. People Given name * Ollie Marie Adams (1925–1998), American gospel and R&B singer * Olli ...

the Lyon 25, a twenty-five-stair stairwell in Lyon,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, as shown in the Flip 2002 video release ''Sorry''. He is also famous for having a part in all of the Baker Skateboard Videos. Boulala appeared on the front cover of ''Transworld Skateboarding'' magazine and about 100,000 units of his signature skateboard decks have been sold since he became a professional skateboarder in 1997.

Personal life

Boulala was banned from entering the United States because of his public drunken shenanigans. It's not clear how long or if he is allowed back in the United States. He is also member of a friendship group called the "Piss Drunx" (PD), together with Aaron Pearcy, Jim Greco, Andrew Reynolds,

Erik Ellington Erik Ellington (born August 9, 1977) is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and designer. Early life Erik Ellington was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, to Rose Ann Ellington and Charles Luther Ellington. His parents separat ...

, and Dustin Dollin. Dollin explained in a 2011 interview that the brand "Shake Junt" is the "new Piss Drunx."

Death of Shane Cross

On 7 March 2007, Shane Cross died in a motorcycle crash in Melbourne, Australia — he was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by Boulala, who was seriously injured in the crash. Prior to the crash, both riders were affected by alcohol, and neither wore helmets as a safety precaution before embarking on the ride. '' The DailyTelegraph'', published in Sydney, Australia, disclosed in a post-accident article: Boulala had a blood alcohol concentration of .162 and Cross, who died in hospital, had a blood alcohol level of .18. Boulala and Cross had earlier been at a city nightspot, the Cherry Bar. Then, they went to a friend's house to drink beer. County Court Judge Sue Pullen said Boulala slammed into the hotel wall at an estimated 30 km/h about 1:05am after doing two to three laps around the block. Following a four-month coma, Boulala was subsequently charged, found guilty of culpable driving and sentenced to a four-year prison sentence. ''Huck'' magazine published an interview that one of its journalists had conducted with Boulala following his release. In the several months following Cross' death, senior Flip team rider

Arto Saari Arto Saari (born November 9, 1981) is a Finnish professional skateboarder and photographer. Early life Saari was born in Seinäjoki, Finland. His mother was supportive of his skateboarding and his first skateboard was a Vision Gator model. Ska ...

quit the Flip company, despite having been with the company for the entirety of his professional career, due to the distress that was caused by Cross' death.

Video game appearances

Boulala is a playable character in the

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

: '' Skate''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulala, Ali 1979 births Living people Swedish skateboarders Swedish people of Algerian descent Swedish sportspeople of African descent Swedish people of Finnish descent