Thomas Joseph Lavin (born December 7, 1976) is an American
BMX cyclist and the host of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's reality competition series ''
The Challenge'' since its
eleventh season.
Early life
Thomas Joseph Lavin was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lavin first began to ride bikes when he was two. He eventually became a professional winning his first pro contest at the age of nineteen.
Career
BMX
He has entered events including 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, ...
and the
Dew Tour
The Dew Tour is an extreme sports circuit organized by the Adventure Sports Group, a subsidiary of American Media, LLC.
History
The tour was announced in late 2004, and made its debut in Louisville, KY in June 2005. The tour then made stops i ...
. In the X Games he took bronze three times, silver once, and gold three times (One was Australian). He has been a DK Dirt Circuit Champion, a champion in the
Gravity Games
The Gravity Games was a multi-sport competition originating in Providence, Rhode Island that was broken down into Winter and Summer adaptations. The competition featured a variety of extreme sports such as aggressive inline skating, skateboardi ...
, a European championship winner, and a CFB Champion. In 1995, he was crowned the "King of Dirt." He has a BMX track in his backyard which includes several groomed trails and dirt jumps.
Lavin was competing in a Dew Tour event in Las Vegas on October 14, 2010, where he crashed and was rushed to the hospital. Due to the critical injuries he sustained, he was put into a medically induced coma and developed a case of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
shortly after. On October 20, Chas Aday, friend of Lavin, reported that Lavin was breathing on his own, following simple commands like squeezing hands or giving thumbs-up to the doctors and he was expected to make a full recovery. Lavin was able to return home on November 16, 2010.
According to
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London.
Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
he is considered one of the greatest BMX riders of all time.
Lavin was included into the USA BMX Hall of Fame on October 29, 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Source: https://www.usabmx.com/site/sections/8 See photo of Hall of Fame Inductees for 2022.
Music
Self taught in playing the piano, Lavin used the recording studio in his home to record and release an album called LAVS the First SET.
[
In 2008, Lavin released the single "Soldier" — a tribute to his long-time friend Stephen Murray. Stephen crashed during the Dew Action Sports Tour in Baltimore. He suffered a serious spinal injury during a double-backflip attempt on June 22, 2007. All sales from the single were donated to the Stephen Murray Family Fund.]
MTV
Lavin is the subject of the film ''A Film about T. J. Lavin''. He appeared on an episode of MTV's '' Cribs''.
The Challenge
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet 2'' (2005–2006)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat'' (2006)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel'' (2006–2007)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno 3'' (2007)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III'' (2008)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island'' (2008)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel II'' (2009)
* '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins'' (2009)
* '' Spring Break Challenge'' (2010)
* '' The Challenge: Fresh Meat II'' (2010)
* '' The Challenge: Cutthroat'' (2010)
* '' The Challenge: Rivals'' (2011)
* '' The Challenge: Battle of the Exes'' (2012)
* '' The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons'' (2012)
* '' The Challenge: Rivals II'' (2013)
* '' The Challenge: Free Agents'' (2014)
* '' The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II'' (2015)
* '' The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines'' (2015–2016)
* '' The Challenge: Rivals III'' (2016)
* '' The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions'' (2017)
* '' The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30'' (2017)
* '' The Challenge: Vendettas'' (2018)
* '' The Challenge: Final Reckoning'' (2018)
* '' The Challenge: War of the Worlds'' (2019)
* '' The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2'' (2019)
* '' The Challenge: Total Madness'' (2020)
* '' The Challenge: Double Agents'' (2020-2021)
* '' The Challenge: All Stars'' (2021)
* '' The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies'' (2021)
* '' The Challenge: All Stars 2'' (2021-2022)
* '' The Challenge: All Stars 3'' (2022)
* '' The Challenge: USA (2022)
* '' The Challenge: Ride or Dies (2022- present)
Personal life
He married his longtime girlfriend Roxanne Siordia on November 2, 2012, in Las Vegas. The couple had been together for eight years and married on their anniversary. Through Siordia Lavin has one stepdaughter, whom he has since adopted.
References
External links
Personal website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, T.J.
Living people
American male cyclists
People from the Las Vegas Valley
X Games athletes
1976 births
BMX riders