Olympian Profile: Andy MacDonald
37 years ago, Cyndi Lauper, Bon Jovi, and The Smiths were still charting; Top Gun was the highest grossing movie of the year; the German football team were still split by East and West; Space Shuttle Challenger exploded during take-off; Mike Tyson beat Berbick by way of knockout, becoming the youngest-ever world heavyweight boxing champion; The Legend of Zelda was first released; Alex Ferguson was appointed Manchester United manager; the Chernobyl incident became the world’s worst nuclear disaster; and a then 12-year-old Andy MacDonald clipped-up his helmet and picked up a skateboard for the first time.
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At 50 years old, MacDonald will be more than triple the age of Team GB’s next oldest competing skateboarder (Lola Tambling) and the eldest ever in Olympic skateboarding competition. Heading into the Summer Games as the experienced elder statesman, MacDonald will hope his years in the game will give him an edge over an otherwise youthful roster, and with more X Games Skateboarding medals on his record than any other skater he shouldn’t be taken lightly. Renowned for his competitive consistency and mildly controversial yellow helmet, MacDonald took home 22 podium placements at the Extreme Games between 1996 and 2012, including 8 gold medals in a period packed with veritable vert legends like Killer Bs Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek, and, of course, “The Birdman” Tony Hawk.
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Born in Melrose, Massachusetts, Andy Mac formerly competed under United States nationality and was even a founding member of the USA Skateboarding governing body. In fact, he became so ingrained in American identity that, to this day, he is the only person who has ever been allowed the honour of skating the White House’s marble hallways. After watching many of his peers switch nationalities to qualify, MacDonald saw an opportunity to realise a lifelong dream; made possible by his Luton-born father, he made the switch to Team GB in an effort to reach Paris 2024.
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Despite his passport exchange, qualification was never nailed on, and landing a spot for the summer almost slipped through Mac’s fingers after a tense showing during the Olympic Qualifier Series. The final event in Budapest was MacDonald’s last opportunity to secure his place in Paris and, against all odds, his last gasp semi-final clutch for 15th place earned him enough points to send him to the Games. He kicked off his penultimate run with a trademark Varial 540 in the deep section and used his vert skating experience to flow through the bowl’s biggest walls; his next run wasn’t so fruitful, but it didn’t matter, he’d already laid his claim, and showed he was in good spirits by closing out his performance with a crowd-pleasing Melon Grab Backflip over a wide island. With Olympic qualification in the bag, MacDonald’s lovin’ it.