Parks Napier Bonifay is an American professional wakeboarder

Wakeboarding

Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques....

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Life and career

Bonifay was born in Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

. He became a professional wakeboarder in 1994. Parks took the wakeboarding world by storm as a 14-year-old, winning the X-Games in his first visit. He has held many major titles including the Pro Wakeboard Tour titles in 1999 and 2001. When his dad put him on skis at a young age, he became, according to the Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

, the youngest water skier in the world at just six months, 28 days old.

He became the first documented wakeboarder to land the 1080 (a switch toeside 1080), doing so at a Bill Doster photoshoot in 1999.

Bonifay was a recurring star on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's extreme action sports show Nitro Circus

Nitro Circus

Nitro Circus is an American television series that featured Travis Pastrana and his friends traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, base jumping, and performing reckless stunts. It was originally run as a miniseries in 2006 on Fuel TV. In January 2009, it began running as an episodic reality...

. He is sponsored by Ronix, Fox, Red Bull

Red Bull

Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...

, Spy, MasterCraft

MasterCraft

MasterCraft is a United States manufacturer of luxury high performance boats that was founded in 1968 and is currently headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee...

, and Performance Ski & Surf.

A full-length feature documentary on Parks' life was released on August 21, 2009, aptly titled The Parks Documentary. It chronicles the story of Park's life, from his roots in water skiing and show skiing via his parents and grandparents, to his exploits, accomplishments and sheer dominance of the world of wakeboarding the past 12 years.

He resides in Polk County, Florida

Polk County, Florida

Polk County is located in central Florida between the Tampa Bay and Greater Orlando metropolitan areas. The county was established by the state government in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War and named after former United States president James K. Polk. The county seat is Bartow and its...

. 863

Innovations

• Half Cab Double Backroll — invented and first completed by Parks Bonifay
• Heelside Double Back Roll — invented by Parks Bonifay
• Temper Tantrum: a double Tantrum — invented and first completed by Parks Bonifay
• First to land a 1080
• Half Cab Double Backroll Mobe — invented and first completed by Parks Bonifay
• 720 Whirlybird (no handle pass)
• Vulcan (S-Bend to switch landing)
• 911

External links

• EXPN.com http://expn.go.com/athletes/bios/BONIFAY_PARKS.html
• Gravity Games.com http://www.gravitygames.com/athletes/bios/biobonifay/
• USA water ski.org http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/bios/men/Bio.BonifayP.html