By: Claire Liu

At 50 years old and about three times the age of his competition, Adam MacDonald is changing the course of skateboarding history. Not only is he still going strong with his tricks and flips, but his skills are so impressive-even at his age-that he has even qualified for 2024’s Summer Olympics in Paris. MacDonald will be representing Britain, along with the teenagers Sky Brown and Lola Tambling, who are both younger than his oldest child!

While the sport of skateboarding typically favors the young, Adam MacDonald is proving to everyone that even people as old as him can achieve wonderful things. He knew that to qualify for the Olympic games this year, he would have to score in the top 22 spots. The score a skateboarder is given determines whether they qualify for the next round. Skateboarders usually go through at least one run, depending on how well they do. MacDonald knows that in order to qualify, he would have to make the semifinals, which are the top two rounds. He has never made it past quarterfinals (Top 4 rounds) in the past.

“I’d have to do the hardest tricks, the best run I’d ever done, to even have a shot, “MacDonald had said in an interview with The New York Times. “All the strategy I’ve developed over the years was out the window. I had three chances to do the hardest run I could possibly do.”

In the end, MacDonald had qualified, scoring 11 more points than he had ever scored. He just made it to the Olympics, even with falling on his first two runs.

“Even when my coaches were telling me I did it, I wouldn’t believe them until I heard it officially.” MacDonald had said after his performance.

Qualifying for the Olympics is something MacDonald never expected to happen for him, even when he just began skateboarding. He had skated in several competitions and won eight X Game gold medals, but this is his first time ever trying out for the Olympics.

“When I started this journey, I was like, “This is going to be a fun trip — and maybe [a] long shot, I’ll qualify.” Just making it is kind of the medal for me. Of course I’m going for the gold medal, but I’m happy to be there.”

Being the legendary skateboarder he is, Adam MacDonald is commonly asked what it’s like skating at his age.

“It hurts more when you fall. It takes longer to heal. But just don’t stop. That’s how you keep doing it into your 50s.” MacDonald had responded. In his skateboarding career, he broke his ankle and his kneecap, and had to get many surgeries. At the age he is now, MacDonald knows his body is weakening, but he also knows he won’t stop.

Adam MacDonald recalls skateboarding in the park with kids a third of his age, watching them do stunts people his age wouldn’t dare to try. All the teenagers and their tricks that MacDonald had witnessed had led him to a sense of nostalgia.

“Oftentimes I’ll be skating with my teenager teammates, and they’ll be trying a trick, and chances are I was either there when that trick was invented or know the guy who invented it and how it got its name. Or I invented that trick myself.”

As MacDonald makes his way to Paris this year, he will never forget all the skateboarding he got to experience in his years, and how he’s still going. At 50 years old, MacDonald was able to witness so much Skateboarding history, starting from how some common tricks were invented, and to the gaining popularity in the sport itself as the years passed. Soon, his accomplishments will become Skateboarding history as well, starting with this year’s Summer Olympics.