Eito Yasutoko

He was born July 29, 1983 in Osaka, Japan to professional roller skating parents. His name, the "cute" form of the Japanese pronunciation of the word Eight, comes from a maneuver his father made famous. With his little brother Takeshi by his side and his little sister learning to skate the halfpipe at just five years of age this family has become an institution within the skating world with Eito leading the way.

Eito began roller skating when he was two and half years old. He switched to inline skating when he was eight. In 1995, at just 12 years of age, he joined the US pro tour, two years later he won his first First Place finish in an ASA pro tour competition. Every year since then has seen him grow as a skater, claiming more prizes each year. On tour today, the biggest threat to his capture of a First Place finish is his little brother Takeshi.

Style

Eito is first and foremost dedicated to vert, skating in a halfpipe, as opposed to street, speed or big air. On a vert ramp, his style is best contrasted with his brother Takeshi's or compared to one of his rivals, Taig Chris. Eito goes big. He is famous for pulling tricks that other skaters are unwilling to attempt, at least in competition. Further, he can stack the most difficult tricks into one run, where other skaters will save the toughest tricks to cap a run, as a finale. For a time he was the only one pulling Flat Spin 1080's and Double Backflip 180's, until, emboldened by his success and needing to keep up to compete, other skaters followed suit. He is credited with inventing the Double Flat Spin, the 1440 Flat Spin and is still the only one pulling his signature trick, the 1080 California Roll.