TJ Lavin

Filed under Hall Of Fame on December 19, 2022 | Comment(s)

In the sandy deserts of Las Vegas, a young TJ Lavin was the fastest kid on a BMX bike in his neighborhood ...and he loved catchin' air. So when he spotted some rough dirt jumps in a fenced-in backyard, TJ couldn't resist hopping over the fence with his bike and began shredding the stranger's backyard. As it turned out, the homeowner soon came home … BUSTED!  But rather than scold TJ for trespassing, he invited the neighbor kid back and handed him a shovel to build more jumps. Turns out that the homeowner was a super cool TV & appliance store owner named Nick Herda - and soon, together, they'd form the Herda HotShots BMX team.

With the support of Herda, TJ would get his first big shot at the 1995 ABA King of Dirt; which he'd go on to win. Overnight, his World changed. That first victory would kick off a streak of KoD comps, followed up with Gold medals won at X-Games, Dew Tour, DK Dirt Circuit, and CFB comps. 

TJ's invention of a trampoline bike, to master multiple tail-whips, not only caught on with fellow freestylers but also with his throttle-twisting freestyle Motocross friends. 

In all, TJ has ten X-Games medals to his name - but surprisingly, this is not what he is best known for around the World.  Lavin got his foot in the door at MTV, which led to him hosting MTV's reality-competition show The Challenge - after he recommended they hire Corey Nastazio for the gig. Instead, the producers wanted him - and here, some seventeen years and 32 seasons later, he is still hosting The Challenge today.  While the glitz and fame of being an MTV celebrity might swell most people's heads, TJ has never forgotten his roots that day in the desert when he jumped a fence that would change his life.