By: Gabby Zhou
The Paris Olympics
According to many, skateboarding is only for the young; however, 50-year-old Andy Macdonald has proven people wrong. The gold medalists in Tokyo 2021 were aged 22, 19, 18, and 13, a very drastic difference compared to a 50-year-old.Born in the United States, Andy Macdonald will compete representing England, as his father is British.
Andy Macdonald’s Vision
By the time of the Paris Olympics, Macdonald will be 51, competing in the park event, where skaters do tricks in a bowl. “It feels pretty surreal,” Macdonald told Reuters. “I never thought that I would actually qualify for the Games, and when I started this process two and a half years ago, it was mostly just like an experiment.
Introduction to Andy Macdonald
Andy Macdonald, born July 31, 1973, is a British-American professional skateboarder. As of September 2013, he holds the record for the most X Games medals in vert skateboarding and won the World Cup Skateboarding competition eight times. He was selected the “Best Overall Skater” in the “Readers Poll” of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. In 2022 Andy Macdonald announced his goal to be part of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Interviewed Questions:
Andy Macdonald was interviewed by reporters for The New York Times, below are a few of the questions with corresponding responses:
Did You Think You Would Make It To the Olympic Games?
There are 22 spots for the Games. Coming into the Budapest qualifier, my coach said I’d have to make the semifinal. To that point in the series I’d never even made a quarterfinal.
I fell on my first two. On my last run I pulled it off. I scored 11 points higher than I had ever scored on the tour. And even then I qualified by the skin of my teeth.
How is Skating Different At Your Age?
There are 22 spots for the Games. Coming into the Budapest qualifier, my coach said I’d have to make the semifinal. To that point in the series I’d never even made a quarterfinal.
According to Andy Macdonald, age doesn’t matter.
Resources Used
The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/sports/olympics/andy-macdonald-olympics.html
Olympics:
https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/sports/skateboarding
TeamGB:
https://www.teamgb.com/article/skateboarder-andy-macdonald-age-really-is-just-a-number/6OmdPvEiQ2jVt4rHCXnMFB
nbcOlympics:
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/50-year-old-skateboarder-andy-macdonald-age-just-number