Matt Berger

Biography

Matt Berger was among the skateboarders who competed in the Olympic debut of their sport at Tokyo 2020 where he finished 20^th in the men’s street event. He qualified for his second straight Olympic Games by ranking 18^th in the World Skateboarding Ranking after placing 11^th and 16^th in the two legs of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest. 

Though Berger may not hail from a skateboarding hotspot, growing up in BC, that hasn’t hindered his dreams in the sport. After seven years of competing as an amateur around the world and re-investing every dollar he earned back into skateboarding, Berger won one of the biggest amateur events, the Phoenix Am, in 2014. 

That gave him the opportunity to compete in the Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Pro Open in Los Angeles, where he was the only amateur in a field of more than 20 recognized skateboarders. He finished eighth, the highest-ranked non-SLS pro, earning him a spot on the SLS Tour and changing the entire trajectory of his career. He became the first amateur to ever qualify for the full SLS Tour. 

In his debut season, he made the final of every SLS contest and was the first rookie to ever qualify into the SLS Championship where he placed fifth. He finished the season at number seven in overall rankings. He also had a top-10 finish at his World Championships debut in 2015. Berger turned pro in 2015 and posted two top-10 finishes on the SLS Tour. He also made his X Games debut, finishing in the top-10 in the street competition in Austin.

Unfortunately, Berger had to undergo knee surgery at the end of 2015, forcing him to miss the entire 2016 season. When he returned in 2017, he finished second at the Copenhagen Open. But his season would get cut short once more as he required a second knee surgery, this time a cartilage and bone cadaver implant that needed more than10 months of rehab. 

Berger returned to competition in late 2018 to skate at the SLS World Championships in Rio. In 2019, he was back on the SLS Tour at the London Open. After grinding through qualifiers just to reach the main draw, he finished sixth overall. In his Dew Tour debut, he finished fourth in the Pro Street Final. He also competed in two X Games events, finishing third in the best trick competition in Minneapolis and fifth in the street competition in Norway.

Berger earned silver at the 2021 X Games Presents: Real Street and placed third in Real Street Best Trick at the 2022 X Games. Another highlight of 2021 was placing sixth at the WST World Championships. 

A Little More About Matt

Getting into the Sport: Started skateboarding at age 5 and competing in local events at age 8… The house he grew up in had a large cement patio to which his father added ramps and rails when he realized his son loved skateboarding; his dreams of being a pro skateboarder began on his small personal park… The creativity of skateboarding was more enjoyable than the drills done at practice in other sports… Hopes that Olympic inclusion will positively impact skateboarding so that local community councils/organizations support it more… Outside Interests: Enjoys playing basketball, cycling, spending time with friends… Travelled to Ethiopia in 2014 with ‘Let it Flow’ to fix a water well for 2500 people and build a small skatepark… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Rest at the end”…