By: Kyle Xu

Perhaps you’ve heard your parents or grandparents complaining about sore muscles, aching joints, shriveled-up skin, or even their gray hair. The truth is, changes happen to the human body almost from age 30. People lose their athleticism, joint and bone health, experience cardiovascular changes, and much more.

And that is why we almost never see athletes above age 40 competing at the Olympics, the grandest spectacle of human endeavor, strength, and mentality. It is where the world’s finest athletes gather to showcase their skill. And the athletes are almost certainly very young.

But then we have Andy Macdonald, a 50-year-old father and skateboarder who was born in the USA but will compete for Britain, as he had a British father. This year will be his first Olympics.

Born in Massachusetts in the US in 1973, Macdonald started skateboarding at age 12 and quickly discovered his passion for the sport. As the oldest competitor at the Games, Macdonald is certainly a human example of pure resilience and commitment.

However, his journey to success was not simple or straightforward; It takes difficulty to be such a top performer in a risk-heavy sport at an old age. In fact, Macdonald himself told the audience that “It hurts more when you fall.”. Whenever Macdonald takes a fall, there is high risk of him being out for weeks or even months. On the other side, younger competitors a third of his age will just hop back on and continue going.

Macdonald has suffered injuries from skateboarding before, especially when he broke his ankle and kneecap in 2002. “There’s not much cartilage left in my knees,” said Macdonald. He’s had to have an ankle and two knee surgeries.

Even with so many consequences of age and injury bearing down on him, Macdonald is still able to drive to success. He qualified for this year’s games at the Budapest qualifier, where he failed two out of three runs but pulled through to qualify for the semifinals on the last run.

On the last run, Macdonald decided to try the trick that he had failed on the previous runs–a flip trick, where you flip your board and slip it under your feet. Even though he failed the trick and missed the board, he was able to miraculously rescue himself from falling by reaching out and putting it back on his feet.

When you fail a run but manage to not fall, it’s extra points. “It’s extra exciting,” said Macdonald. At 50 and nearing 51, Macdonald is one of the oldest people to ever qualify for the Olympic Games. He will be facing young teenagers at the top of the field, including Zheng Haohao of China, an 11-year-old phenom.

But even if he does not win a medal, Macdonald will still enjoy the thrill of competing. And no matter what, his presence among a sport dominated by younger competitors will still prove that resilience and dedication can break past the iron bonds of age.

Image Credit by Brett Sayles