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Ashot: Skateboarder, Vegan

Ashot: Skateboarder, Vegan

Ashot, 34 and of Armenian heritage, sticks out even in a big city like Moscow with his long curly hair and beard…”like Jesus” as he put it. A devout vegan, Ashot was just a few exams away from finishing an economics degree at the prestigious Oil and Gas University in Moscow, something that could have led to a lucrative career. However, after six years of study, he didn’t show up to take the last exams in the summer of 2001. He wanted to skateboard, something he had been doing since the late 1980s, when it was still a rarity in the Soviet Union. He gave up skateboarding shortly thereafter, working as a driver. Ashot returned to the sport again in 2012, doing jumps alongside kids half his age, because ”it is my true love.”

I asked him if he would finish those exams if he lived all over again. ”Probably not. I never wanted to study. It was my parents desire. I wanted to be a sportsman. I don’t want a career where I am rushing around all the time. I just need enough money for food and travel.”

For more on Ashot, you can see his FB page here: https://m.facebook.com/vegsportfood

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