Alan “Ollie” Gelfand did not invent the skateboard ollie in 1977
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An ollie is a skateboard trick that allows the rider to jump in the air with the board with no hands on the board.
Alan “Ollie” Gelfand is officially the first skateboarder according to HIStory books credited for inventing the “ollie” on a vertical ramp. They named the trick after him. Rodney Mullen is credited with performing the first ollie in 1982 on flat ground. Alan “Ollie” Gelfand was from Florida I believe and the documentary was filmed in California. Communication was much different back then so apparently skaters from both coasts came up with the same trick around the same time, but didn’t know each other. YouTube is somewhat of a time machine now.
I always assumed Alan “Ollie” Gelfand from Florida invented the ollie, until I watched the following video titled, “The Magic Rolling Board – MacGillivray Freeman Films” from 1976! Advance to around 9:00 and you will see a young skateboarder performing an ollie in 1976. They will also show the same rider performing an ollie from a side view in slow motion. Who knows what they called this trick back then since the term “ollie” had not been coined. We may never know who truly invented this trick. He looks like a familiar skater from the 1970s and from a film called, “Skateboarder” in 1978. Is that Tony Alva?
