Related Post
Andy Macdonald was unable to get into the final of the men’s skateboarding park event but became the oldest competitor in the sport’s Olympic history with his runs in Wednesday afternoon’s preliminary heats.
At 51 years old, Macdonald is not only the oldest competitor in the men’s skateboard park event – where the youngest to qualify for the final, Keefer Wilson, is 17 years old – but in the Team GB cohort, a full 35 years older than team-mate Sky Brown.
Brown claimed bronze for Team GB three years on from her historic showing in Tokyo in Tuesday’s women’s event, but Macdonald was unable to follow his team-mate into the final on Wednesday evening as he finished 18th in the standings.
Watched on by old friend Tony Hawk, Macdonald recorded a best run score of 77.66 – but was unable to catch the eight front-runners clustered in the high 80s and 90s.
Macdonald started skateboarding at the age of 12, and turned professional 30 years ago, in 1994.
Andy Macdonald was delighted to make history at the Olympics but failed to reach the finals
The 51-year-old skateboarding veteran pulled off a number of strong runs by could not qualify
Watched on by old friend and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, Macdonald had a best run score of 77.66
Making his name in the X Games, Macdonald contines to hold the record for the number of medals in vert.
The 51-year-old also competed alongside skateboarding legend Hawk, winning the doubles event six years in a row.
Hawk had well-wishes for his former partner, saying ahead of Wednesday’s heats that he is ‘a prime example of how much discipline pays off.
‘He is, if nothing else, one of the most consistent and disciplined skaters I’ve ever known. And you can always count on him to do something amazing.’
Macdonald competed in his last X Games in 2018, but won his last medal – bronze, for Best Trick – under the stars and stripes at the 2017 Nitro World Games.
Hawk was on hand to offer Macdonald pointers ahead of the start of the preliminary heats
Macdonald lapped up the cheers of the crowd as he poked fun of his advancing years before his first run
Improving with each run completed, Macdonald outqualified an 18 year old to finish 18th
Macdonald switched his international allegiance to Team GB in 2022 after the launch of the sport at the Olympics in 2021
The father of three outqualified Tommy Calvert – who at 13 is younger than Macdonald’s eldest child Hayden
The former X Games champion is 35 years older than Britain’s other skating hopeful Sky Brown
After the success of skateboarding’s launch at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Macdonald was tempted into switching his allegiance in 2022, qualifying for Team GB via his Luton-born father Roderick.
Macdonald then beat 14-year-old George O’Neill and 13-year-old Tommy Calvert to secure a spot in the Olympic side.
Both O’Neill and Calvert are younger than Macdonald’s eldest child, 18-year-old Hayden.
But Macdonald stressed to Mail Sport in an interview ahead of the Games that the sport has played an enormous role in keeping him young.
‘I’m skating with teenagers all the time,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘On a lot of levels, I feel like I’m right there mentally. I act like a kid, I dress like a kid.
Also showing up for the older generation in Paris was South African athlete Dalls Oberholzer
Meanwhile in the women’s event Zheng Haohao broke records as the Games’ youngest athlete
‘It just so happens that I’m 50 years old, so when I fall it takes longer to get up and longer to heal!’
Macdonald is not alone as an elder statesman in the men’s skateboarding park event, with Dallas Oberholzer of South Africa also showing up at the age of 46.
Oberholzer could only muster a best score of 33.83, ending the day rock bottom of the standings.
But their inclusion comes as a stark contrast to the field in the women’s event on Tuesday, which saw 11-year-old Zheng Haohao competing as the youngest athlete at the Games altogether.
