Most of Andy Macdonald’s Olympic competitors were young enough to be his children. Some, in fact, were younger than his 18-year-old son Hayden. At 51, Macdonald is the oldest Olympic skateboarder in history — though that bar is somewhat low, as skateboarding has only been in the Olympics since 2021.
But most other skateboarders at the Games are still teenagers, including teammates Sky Brown (who won bronze in the women’s park event) and Lola Tambling, both 16. An elder statesman in the sport, Macdonald was winning X Games medals before many of his competitors were born. In a career that spans four decades, he’s won 23 X Games medals in vert skating and eight World Cup Skateboarding titles.
He was involved in the movement to bring skateboarding to the Olympics, one that began around 2003 or 2004, still well before many of his current competitors were born. But in the first year of Olympic skateboarding in 2021, Macdonald found himself without a qualifying spot, sitting on the outside looking in. Before the Paris Games, Macdonald, who was born and raised in Melrose, got a British passport through his father — born in Luton, a town about 35 miles north of London — with hopes of competing for Team GB.
He scraped through the qualifying competition in Budapest in June, not long before his 51st birthday, to finish 15th and earn a spot in this year’s Games. Advertisement “It was a long shot to get here from the get go,” Macdonald said, according to ESPN . “I got here on the last run of the last chance because I fell in the first two runs in Budapest.
” Macdonald finished 18th of 22 in Wednesday’s park event preliminary round and didn’t qualify to compete for a medal, but really, he was just grateful to be there. RESPECT. 🫡 51-year-old British skateboarder Andy Macdonald closes out his #ParisOlympics with a stellar run—and Tony Hawk approves.
pic.twitter.com/ImP3oj737U “The audience has been second to none,” Macdonald said, according to ESPN.
“There are very few things that bring the world together. Sport is one of them at the Olympics. It’s incredible.
Walking around the village seeing athletes from all over the world coming together for sport is a beautiful thing.” It was the younger generation that took home the hardware in the men’s park event: Australian Keegan Palmer, 21, won gold; American Tom Schaar, 24, took silver; and Brazilian Augusto Akio, 23, took bronze. Advertisement On the women’s side, gold went to 14-year-old Arisa Trew of Australia.
The oldest woman in the park final was fourth-place finisher Dora Varella, 23, and even she feels like a veteran compared to her competition. “I feel like a mother,” Varella said. “I see all the little girls that came with a different mentality and that’s why they skate so good.
” Macdonald’s highest score in qualifying was a 77.66, while the top finishers reached into the low 90s. But when he dropped in for his final run and put on a show, the crowd roared with cheers.
Fellow skateboarding legend Tony Hawk pumped his fists and gave him a standing ovation. Macdonald took in the sights around him, raising his board in a gesture of gratitude. Not bad for 51.
Emma can be reached at [email protected] or on X @_EmmaHealy_ .
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