Mark Suciu (pronounced Soo-Choo) (Born August 3, 1992) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 ...
from
Saratoga, CA, based out of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In 2021, Suciu was named
''Thrasher'''s
Skater of the Year.
Early life and education
Mark Suciu was born on August 3, 1992 and grew up less than an hour south from
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in
Saratoga,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Suciu has a brother and their father is from
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. His father attended
The University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
where he graduated with a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
Engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
. After graduating high school, Suciu was skating full time until he sustained an ankle injury. After a period of time, Suciu felt that he was burned out from skateboarding and wanted to explore other facets of life. Suciu decided to attend
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
where he studied
Creative Writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
and
Literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. After two years of living in Philadelphia, Suciu moved to New York City to attend
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
.
Skateboarding career
Suciu started skateboarding when he was six years old. He found inspiration through watching the
X Games
The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...
on TV, seeing local kids skating, and from his cousin who lives in
Doylestown,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Every summer, Suciu would visit his cousin in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
where he was able to skate frequently in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
Love Park
LOVE Park, officially known as John F. Kennedy Plaza, is a public park located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park is nicknamed LOVE Park for its reproduction of Robert Indiana's 1970 ''LOVE'' sculpture which overlooks the pla ...
. His first real skateboard was a
Powell Peralta
Powell Peralta is an American skateboard company founded by George Powell and Stacy Peralta in 1978. The company rose to prominence in the 1980s as skateboarding began maturing as a sport. The company featured the Bones Brigade, a team featurin ...
Blue & Golden Dragon
Steve Caballero
Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...
deck. Suciu used to compete in the
eS Game of Skate contests frequently.
Video Parts
*
2005: ''Mijos (Getofab #6)''
*
2006: ''Future $ellout$ (Getofab #7)''
*
2007: ''Mortigi Tempo''
*
2009: ''Party Banks'' - Fishbanks Skateshop
*
2010: ''Double Rock'' -
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
*
2010: ''Origin'' - Habitat
*
2011: ''Hell on Wheels'' -
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
*
2012: ''Cityscape''
*
2012: ''Sabotage3''
*
2012: ''Cross Continental'' - Atlas/Habitat
*
2013: ''Philadelphia with Mark Suciu'' -
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
*
2013: ''Search The Horizon'' - Habitat
*
2013: ''The Philadelphia Experiment'' - Caste Quality
*
2014: ''Good Times Are Coming'' - sml. Wheels
*
2015: ''Sabotage4''
*
2016: ''Away Days'' -
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
*
2017: ''Broadway Bullet'' - Adidas
*
2018: ''Suciu ADV II part'' - Adidas
*
2019: ''Verso''
*
2019: ''Connector Line'' - Habitat
*
2021: ''Blue Dog'' - Adidas
*
2021: ''Curve'' - Habitat
*
2021: ''Spitfire'' -
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
*
2021: ''"Flora" Episode III'' -
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
*
2021: ''Ground Glass'' -
Jenkem Magazine
''Jenkem'' is an online skateboarding and culture magazine founded in 2011 and operated from Brooklyn, New York. The website features interviews with professional skateboarders, industry professionals, graphic artists, and musicians, as well as v ...
Sponsors
As of 2021, Suciu rides for Habitat Skateboards, and has numerous other sponsors including Adidas Footwear, Spitfire Wheels, Thunder Trucks, RVCA Clothing, Jessup Griptape, and Atlas Skateshop.
References
1992 births
Living people
People from Saratoga, California
American skateboarders
Temple University alumni
Eugene Lang College alumni
American people of Romanian descent
{{US-skateboarding-bio-stub