FORMER WICKHAM LAD IS NOW AN INTERNATIONAL SKATEBOARDING GURU

BY TANGIORA HINAKI AND JESSE AYRE

23-year-old Wickham-raised skateboarder Nixon Osbourne experienced a rapid rise to fame after a photo captured by renowned photographer Wade McGlaughlin went gangbusters.

In 2021 Osbourne relocated to the Gold Coast, where he began making connections. He explained the catalyst for his rise to fame: “It all started when I first skated in this competition called the Australian State League and through there I met a photographer. His name was Wade McLaughlin.”

Mr Osbourne and Mr McGlaughlin made plans to take a photo after Osbourne explained his capabilities as a street skateboarder and not just a transition skateboarder. This led to an extremely difficult 14-stair handrail grind being captured at the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane QLD and ultimately the image going viral. From there, big names and industry brands such as Vans, Afends, Creature Skateboards and Independent started reaching out for brand deals.

“So ultimately I kind of took hold of those opportunities and they started wanting to support me and start sending me to competitions and start travelling to film content and get photos and things like that.”

After accepting sponsorship, Mr Osbourne has had many incredible experiences including a memorable paid trip to Indonesia where he filmed a music video for Australian band Dune Rats.
Recently, Nixon has returned to the Northern QLD Indigenous community of Kawana to do workshops with the local kids.

“I enjoy being like an older brother to them all and just showing them my passion and it's been a great experience. I've been here three times, so all the kids kind of look at me like family now, which is nice.”

Nixon Osbourne has a huge future ahead of himself in the skateboarding industry and will be departing Australia to head to Russia at the end of this month for a Russian Federation Skateboarding competition.