Jeremy Wray, Heath Kirchart, Brian Anderson, and Transworld Skateboarding join the Hall of Fame — and the class of 2026 couldn't be more deserving.
On May 15, 2026, at Vans Headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame inducted its class of 2026 — 18 individuals and institutions that shaped skateboarding into what it is today. Among them, three street skating legends and one foundational media institution stood out as names that have been a long time coming.
Jeremy Wray — the man who ollied between water towers
If you need one image to understand what Jeremy Wray is about, it's the November 1997 Thrasher cover: a 16-foot gap between two water towers, high above the ground, no pads, no safety net — just pop, nerve, and commitment. That photo, shot by Daniel Harold Sturt, became one of the most iconic covers in Thrasher's history and instantly cemented Wray as one of the most fearless skaters of his generation. But his induction isn't just about one trick — it's about a career defined by power, precision, and a frontside flip that still holds up against anyone who's come since. Now 50, Wray is still skating, still creating, and running Wraybros, a skater-owned brand built with his brother Jonas and longtime friends. The Hall caught up to him; he didn't slow down to wait for it.
Heath Kirchart — a skater's skater
Heath Kirchart is the definition of a skater's skater — someone whose reputation was built entirely on doing things that made other pros wince. His part in Birdhouse's The End (1998) remains the stuff of legend: a kickflip to 50-50 on a Blockbuster sign, a 20-stair frontside lipslide, tricks that required a level of physical commitment most people simply don't have. He went on to deliver standout sections in Transworld's This Is Skateboarding (2003) and Emerica's Stay Gold (2010), then did something almost unheard of in professional skateboarding: he walked away at the top, voluntarily, in his early thirties. He asked Emerica to stop making his pro shoe, asked Alien Workshop to stop making his board, and quietly disappeared into a series of adventures — bicycle touring across the US, climbing El Capitan, nearly drowning sailing the Baja Peninsula. Enigmatic till the end. The induction is overdue.
Brian Anderson — bigger than skateboarding
Brian Anderson's induction to the Hall carries more weight than most. Named Thrasher's Skater of the Year in 1999, BA was already one of the most respected street skaters on the planet — a physically imposing, technically devastating presence who rode for Toy Machine and then Girl Skateboards, leaving a trail of frontside bluntslides and gap tricks that redefined what a big guy could do on a board. In 2016, he became the first openly gay professional skateboarder to come out publicly, something he described as terrifying given the culture he'd grown up in. "I think a part of me was so irritated and angry from holding that in," he said of his years in the closet, "so it made me more of an animal on my skateboard." His coming out changed skateboarding in ways that went far beyond the sport, and his Cave Homo zine — proceeds going to The Trevor Project — made clear he wasn't done pushing boundaries once the skating conversation started. The Hall is honoring a complete person, not just a career.
Transworld Skateboarding — the magazine that brought skating home
Founded in May 1983 by Larry Balma and Peggy Cozens, Transworld Skateboarding was built on a deliberate alternative to Thrasher's "skate and destroy" ethos — TWS went with "skate and create." That distinction mattered. It made skateboarding accessible to a whole generation of kids whose parents wouldn't have let them near Thrasher, and it grew into the largest-selling skate magazine in the world by March 2013.
For decades, its photography set the standard, its video productions defined what skate media could look like, and its pages launched careers. The print edition folded in 2019, but its influence on how skateboarding was documented, distributed, and celebrated is immeasurable. Inducting Transworld as an Icon is the right call.
Just their website URL makes them official OGs: https://skateboarding.com/
The full class of 2026 is 18 strong, spanning every era from the 1970s through the 2000s, and the ceremony at Vans HQ brought the community together the way only these nights can. As Hall of Fame chairman Jim Fitzpatrick put it, these are "a lifetime of moments on wheels that will live on forever." For Wray, Kirchart, Anderson, and Transworld, that's not a stretch — it's just the truth.
Here's the full video recap of the whole event:
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