By: Amelia Xiao

Legendary skateboarder Andy Macdonald will be participating in this year’s 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. At the age of 50, Macdonald is set to become the oldest Olympic skateboarder ever when he will be representing Great Britain at Paris next month. According to Great Britain’s skateboarding federation, Macdonald holds the record for the most X Games vert titles with 23 medals!

Macdonald grew up in Massachusetts and started his skateboarding journey from the early age of twelve. His dad is British, which allows him to qualify for a position in Great Britain’s Olympic team. He qualified for Great Britain’s Olympic team by finishing high enough for the requirement of the team in the Olympic Qualifier Series this year.

“Getting a qualification place at the Olympics is something I never thought would happen,” Macdonald said, “It took a hundred things aligning for me to get the points needed and, luckily for me, they did.”

Macdonald will be competing against athletes younger than a third of his age. He says that at his age, it hurts more when you fall and it takes longer to heal. But his determination and resilience keeps him going.

Image Credit by Bran Sodre