T. J. Lavin

T.J. Lavin
Born Thomas Joseph Lavin
(1976-12-07) December 7, 1976
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Occupation
  • Cyclist
  • host

Thomas Joseph "T. J." Lavin (born December 7, 1976) is an American BMX rider and the host of MTV's The Challenge since its eleventh season.

Biography

Thomas Joseph Lavin was born December 7, 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lavin first began to ride bikes when he was two and raced BMX until he was 15. He then gave up racing to try dirt jumping. He eventually became a professional at the age of nineteen. He was also on the wrestling team while in high school.

He has won almost every competition he has entered including the X Games and the Dew Action Sports Tour. In the X Games he took bronze three times, silver once, and gold three times (One was Australian). He has been a DK Dirt Circuit Champion, a champion in the Gravity Games, a European championship winner, and a CFB Champion. In 1995, he was crowned the "King of Dirt". He has a 1-acre (0.40 ha) BMX track in his backyard which includes several groomed trails and dirt jumps.[1] He is currently sponsored by S&M Bikes, Headrush, Monster Energy Drink, Lavs Lab, and Kicker. TJ Lavin is also the subject of a photorealist painting titled King of Dirt.[2]

T.J. taught himself how to play piano and has a recording studio in his home. He released his album called LAVS the First SET. He appeared on the song "Never Gonna Hold Me Down" with Johnny Richter on the Sub Noize Souljaz album, on the song "Watcha Want" on the album Random Stuff by good friend and Suburban Noize recording artist Big B, and on the Tsunami Bros. album King Harbor in a song titled "The Crab Shack Special".

In 2008, Lavin released the single "Soldier" — a tribute to his long-time friend Stephen Murray. Stephen crashed during the AST Dew Tour. He suffered a serious spinal injury during a double-backflip attempt on June 22, 2007. All sales from the single were donated to the Stephen Murray Family Fund.[3]

Lavin is the subject of the film A Film about T. J. Lavin. He appeared on an episode of MTV's Cribs.[4] Lavin has a video game named after him: MTV Sports: T. J. Lavin's Ultimate BMX.

He has hosted spin-offs, specials, and MTV's reality-competition show The Challenge (originally titled Real World/Road Rules Challenge) since its eleventh season:

Lavin appears in a starring role as Eli in the independent film A Monster Among Men, released in 2012.[5]

Lavin was competing in a Dew Tour event in Las Vegas on October 14, 2010, where he crashed and was rushed to the hospital. Due to the critical injuries he sustained, he was put into a medically induced coma and developed a case of pneumonia shortly after.[6][7] On October 20, Chas Aday, friend of Lavin, reported that Lavin was breathing on his own, following simple commands like squeezing hands or giving thumbs-up to the doctors and he was expected to make a full recovery.[8] Lavin was able to return home on November 16, 2010.[9]

He married his longtime girlfriend Roxanne Sioridia on November 2, 2012 in Las Vegas. The couple had been together for eight years and married on their anniversary.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Larger Than Lav".
  2. ↑ http://contemporary-artist.info/2011/portraits/king-of-dirt/
  3. ↑ "TJ Lavin's Official Site".
  4. ↑ "TJ Lavin Bio".
  5. ↑ "Blood Sweat and Fears Films". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "BMX-MTV host TJ Lavin in critical condition".
  7. ↑ "BMX star TJ Lavin in coma after major crash".
  8. ↑ "T. J. Lavin expected to make a Full Recovery".
  9. ↑ "T. J. Lavin returns home one month after serious bike crash".
  10. ↑ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20644934,00.html
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