World Ranked: After being paroled from prison on December 13, 2008, Tony Hoffman started living out his dream, with his addiction behind him. Tony is a former BMX Elite Pro and placed 2nd at the 2016 World Championships in Medellin,Colombia, in the Masters Pro class. He is a 2016 Rio Summer Olympics coach with women’s BMX Pro Brooke Crain in his lineup. His story is full of redemption as he has seen some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. Tony is the Founder and Director of The Freewheel Project, a nonprofit organization that mentors thousands of youth through action sports - BMX, skateboarding, and afterschool programs. The Freewheel Project focuses annually on teaching kids leadership skills and making healthy life choices, including substance abuse prevention. The Early Years: Tony has been sober since May 17, 2007. His BMX career started in high school and he was a top-ranked BMX amateur with multiple endorsements. As a native of Clovis, California, where he attended Clovis High School, Tony started drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and using prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin by his senior year. His life took a turn for the worse as he became addicted at such a young age, losing everything. In 2004, Tony committed a home invasion armed robbery and was ultimately sent to prison for two years in 2007. Tonyunderstands the despair addicts go through as even a ten-year prison sentence threat could not stop him from using during his probation. During his time in prison, Tony began rebuilding his life and as soon as he was released, he utilized thepositives and negatives in his life to get to where he is today. Today: Tony is a changed man and inspires so many to live their life with purpose. Tony has dedicated his life to bringing awareness around the country, describing how dangerous prescription pill and heroin abuse are, as well as advocating a shift in thinking toward current addiction/recovery processes.
