By: Olivia Xia

In sport dominated by the young, 50 year old Andy Macdonald stands out. He is the oldest person to ever compete in the skateboarding Olympics, and will be competing for Britain in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Andy is almost 3 times older than the winners of the previous skateboarding games. The gold medalists of Tokyo were 22, 19, 18 and 13. This year, an 11 year old named Zheng Haohao of China will also be competing.

Macdonald did not believe that he could qualify for the Olympics, but after years of practice, he was able to score a shot in this year’s Olympics. Macdonald has won eight X Games gold medals, and he believes that qualifying for the Olympics is already one of his career highlights. He is going after the gold, but he also believes that him being there is already like a medal.

However, his experience is measured by his risks. At his age, it is way more dangerous if he falls. “It hurts way more when you fall. It takes longer to heal. But just don’t stop. That’s how you keep doing it into your 50s.” He said.

He knows that his body is weaker and older than the youth that are competing this year. He has had injuries in his ankles and kneecap, from years and years of repetition and overuse. But skateboarding makes him feel young, and makes him feel like he is a teenager once again.

Andy also believes that as long as he tries hard, he has a chance to get the gold.