Andy Macdonald: Tony Hawk’s 51-year-old friend defying the odds at the 2024 Olympics

In a sport full of youthfulness and exhilarating tricks, Team GB skateboarder Andy Macdonald defied the odds, becoming the sport's oldest Olympian, aged 51.

The X-Games legend put on a show in front of a sold-out crowd, good friend and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, and his 18-year-old son, who is older than Macdonald's fellow Team GB teammates.

According to The Telegraph, Macdonald made three clean runs to the delight of the crowd and even perfected a backflip and a nollie heelflip – a trick he invented and introduced to the skateboarding world in the mid-1990s.

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His third run was his highest scoring, earning a score of 77.66, which inevitably wasn't enough to challenge the top eight and reach the final. He finished 18th out of 22 skaters, but Macdonald wasn't there to win the ultimate prize.

Macdonald, who was last in Paris with Tony Hawk to put on an exhibition in the late 2000s, claimed he 'won the gold medal for having fun' after setting a really low bar for himself.

According to The Independent, Macdonald said: "I set the bar really low. I could fall on every run, and I wouldn't care. My goal was to get here. Now I'm here and enjoying every minute. I've been staying up till 2 am, and getting up at 6 am because it's such an experience being an Olympian."

"It's my livelihood, I'm lucky enough that I can make a living from it, but it keeps me young. It's the fountain of youth. I've been doing it since I was 12 years old. I'm 51 and still enjoying every minute of it."

The Team GB rider, who comes from San Diego originally, started skating with Tony Hawk over 30 years ago and holds the record for the most X-Games medals (15) in vert skateboarding. He has also won the World Cup Skateboarding competition eight times.

After seeing skateboarding make its debut at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Macdonald set his sights on becoming the first male GB rider to make an appearance, gaining a British passport through his dad, who was born in Luton.

When asked if he would try and compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Macdonald said: "Do you need 55-year-olds at the Olympics? I live in San Diego, so it's right up the road from me." Could he defy the odds and compete in LA?

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