By: Shawn  Wang

Skateboarding is considered to be a sport for the young. Most Olympics participants are under the age of 25. However, 50 year old Andy MacDonald will also be competing. Born in the U.S, he will be representing Britain.

It was easier for him to skate when Andy was younger because if he fell now, it would hurt a lot more. He skates with kids a third of his age. When he sees them fall, they just bounce right up to try again; if he fell like that, he would be out for two weeks.

Skateboarding has changed a lot since Andy first started when he was twelve. Some 12-year-old kids he skates with now are doing some of the hardest tricks invented. Now, there are many skate parks open to the public. When Andy first started, if he wanted to practice, he had to go find someone who has a rail in their backyard.

Andy MacDonald is the oldest person to do a 720, a trick where you spin two rotations on your board. It is one of the hardest skateboarding tricks in the world.

Because skateboarding is a youth sport, Andy spends most of his time skating with teens. He feels as if he is one of them, even though he has been skating before they were born. Sometimes he sees his teammates do a trick that he invented. He feels cool to be experiencing and sharing knowledge with the next generation.

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/sports/olympics/andy-macdonald-olympics.html