TPM Episode 274: Marco de Santi, World Champion Skater, Cirque du Soleil Acrobat
The Powell Movement
Mike Powell
4.9 • 860 Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2022
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Marco de Santi has the most interesting journey of any athlete I've had on the podcast. Born in a less than desirable situation in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Marco did what every kid does; he played soccer until he found skateparks. Marco quit team sports and headed to the USA at age 15, with literally nothing, to make his pro skating dream happen. While Marco eventually became a world Champion, inline was dropped by X-Games, and the organizing body of his sport didn't include Marco in future events. So the first skater to land a triple was forced out of competition and into a life of LOVE, which he performs in every night with the Cirque de Soleil. It doesn't get more rags to riches than this one.
Marco de Santi Show Notes:
3:30: Issues around his backyard vert ramp, growing up in Sao Paolo, and family life
10:00: Soccer, finding skating, stereotypes, roller rink skateparks, how does he pay to get to the US, and how does he stay
18:30: Stanley: Get 30% off site wide with the code drinkfast
Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: Over 60 years of getting you out there
10 Barrel Brewery: Buy their beers; they support action sports more than anyone
21:00: Not speaking English, meeting me, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and problems with judging
32:00: Mountain Dew, other sponsors, never wearing pads, and spending time at Woodward
34:00: The Yasutoko Brothers, the triple, and what's cool about X Games
39:30: Rollerblade: Ski season may be over, but that feeling lasts all year with inline skating
Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better
41:30: Nerves, Silver at X Games, losing X Games, and then getting screwed by the ASA
47:00: Winning World Championships, all things Cirque de Soleil's LOVE (skating, money, injury, perks), building his Vegas empire, and day trading
54:00: Inappropriate Questions with Hardcore Brazil,Carlos Pianowski
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have a seat on your porcelain throne. |
| 0:02.3 | It's time to talk some shit on the Powell movement. |
| 0:13.5 | Welcome to the Powell movement. |
| 0:17.1 | I'm your host Mike Powell, and I'm back to the desk after a week of sun and fun in San Diego and Palm Springs. |
| 0:22.6 | We nailed the weather which makes all the difference in the world. |
| 0:26.6 | It would have totally sucked if we traveled to shitty weather. |
| 0:28.6 | But we caught the last day of a record-breaking heat wave in San Diego and we sat in the sun and swam all day. |
| 0:35.6 | Then when it cooled off and we were able to full full on tourist, and when I say tourist, my |
| 0:40.6 | aura ring said that I walked over 115,000 steps over six days, which means we didn't |
| 0:45.9 | cut any corners when it comes to seeing San Diego and Palm Springs on this vacation. |
| 0:51.2 | And when I say we didn't cut any corners, we did so much. And I'm just going to run |
| 0:54.6 | through all the different things we did. We started off with La Jolla, then Pacific Beach. Then we went to |
| 1:00.0 | the USS Midway Museum. We did Coronado, the gas lamp quarter, Little Italy, Joshua |
| 1:06.0 | Tree, Palm Springs. And I know, I said La Jolla, and I know it's really La Jolla, but I wanted you to think I was really dumb for a second. |
| 1:12.8 | So hopefully you got a chuckle there, and it is debatable whether I'm really dumb or not, but that's a totally different conversation. |
| 1:18.8 | Getting back to the vacation, we ate out for 16 meals and the monster burritos recommended by the one and only Don Wallace who's been on the podcast were my favorite. |
| 1:28.5 | Everything was going great on this vacation. We were making memories. But then, once we got to Palm Springs, |
| 1:34.3 | my nose felt like someone dumped pepper in it. I was sneezing more than normal, but it wasn't too bad. |
| 1:39.9 | And I chalked it all up to allergies and I went out and enjoyed a pool day in the hot Palm Springs weather. |
| 1:45.4 | This was Wednesday, and that night, my allergies are starting to get worse and worse, |
| 1:49.5 | and I wake up at about 2.30 in the morning so stuffed up, I am positive that I have the COVIDs. |
| 1:56.0 | I decide I'm going to put on a mask and go back to sleep and hopefully not get my wife and kids sick. |
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