Skater Bro Highlight: Jean-Marc Johannes, The South African Nollie Heelflip World Record Breaker

“Attempting to break the nollie heelflip record was one of the most fun and challenging things I’ve ever tried to do.” he said after breaking the record.(Independent Media, 2017)

Check out Jean-Marc Breaking the Nollie Heelflip World Record

Early Beginnings and Motherly Boards 

Another interesting aspect of Jean-Marc's skateboarding beginnings is that it flourished with his mother.  His mother actually gave him an old skateboard she used in the past, when he wanted one for his 10th birthday. Now 16 years later,  Jean-Marc has accomplished a lot of "firsts" in his skateboarding career. He is the first South African to win a gold medal at an international skateboarding event-FISE (Festival International des Sports Extrêmes) World Series in China- and the first South African to be featured on Tony Hawk's RIDE Channel.

Jean-Marc and Youth Empowerment 

Jean-Marc on an outreach day with his charity. Photo credit: Fill The Gap Facebook page, September 2017

Jean-Marc was also motivated to break the Nollie Heelflip World Record for the representation of South Africa skateboarding and encouraging youth, “I attempted to break this record for South African skateboarding...When kids see this I hope it invokes a sense of confidence in them, so that they believe they can do anything. That was my ultimate goal,” he said (Independent Media, 2017). Jean is working to achieve this ultimate goal by being an advocate for marginalized youth through his charity, Fill The Gap. Fill The Gap "focuses on helping communities and motivating the youth in underprivileged areas, through skateboarding and youth empowerment programs." So far, the organization has facilitated pop-up skate events and skateboarding demos for kids.