Team GB’s skateboarding veteran shows why Olympics isn’t always about the medals

Andy Macdonald has skateboarded through the White House and Le Grand Palais but gracing the Olympic stage may just have topped the lot.

The 51-year-old did not qualify for the men’s park final at Le Concorde but claimed he “won the gold medal for having fun” after delighting the crowd by rolling back the years in front of a watching Tony Hawk.

Hawk was by Macdonald’s side last time he was in Paris as the pair put on an exhibition in the late 2000s and he is still pinching himself that he has returned as an Olympian.

“At the end of my last run, I realised I’d done what I came here to do, what I’d set my sights on,” he 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 2am, and getting up at 6am, because it’s such an experience being an Olympian.”

Macdonald’s oldest son, who was in attendance, is two years older than his Team GB teammate Sky Brown, who won bronze in the women’s park the previous day.

There was never truly any danger of Macdonald doing likewise but he revelled in the atmosphere as those who remember his X-Games heyday in the 1990s – or possibly those still clinging on to their own Olympics dreams in their advancing years - showed their appreciation.

He fell at the end of his first run attempting a backflip but nailed it second time around, earning rapturous applause which turned into a chorus of boos when it was revealed his run was only good enough for a score of 76.61.

“I had a bet with my coach, a tussle in the Athlete Village, over a Mongolian pin,” Macdonald said. “We’re trying to get a pin from a Mongolian athlete.

“I wanted the pin but he got the pin. We made a bet, that if I made the whole run and do the backflip dismount, you get the Mongolian pin. So I did my backflip and was like, ‘yes, I’ve got the Mongolian pin!’.

“I heard the crowd booing the scores. They saw me do a backflip, which is kind of easy, but it’s a crowd pleaser. It’s like a dismount in gymnastics. The crowd loves it, but it’s not a points thing. It’s just for fun, I did that for the crowd.”

open image in gallery

Those picking the songs at Le Concorde were perhaps influenced by looking down the startlist and seeing a Union Jack next to the name of a man in his early fifties, with The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Joy Division making an unlikely foray on to the Paris 2024 playlist.

But Macdonald – more of a Specials man – grew up a long way from the Hacienda, learning his trade in Boston before moving to his current base in San Diego.

Having witnessed skateboarding make its Olympic bow in Tokyo, he set his sights on Paris. Macdonald gained a British passport through his father, who was born in Luton, while his grandfather hails from Dumfries.

He saved his best run until last, scoring 77.66, but it was only enough for 18th out of 22 in a field dominated by those almost two generations younger – no concern for a skateboarder content to fulfil an ambition that he never thought possible.

“I honestly didn’t look at the scores the whole time,” added Macdonald, who was relieved to land a gnarly heel flick on his second run as ‘it’s a trick I invented’. I had to ask what place I got. I had no idea. I wasn’t here for the scores, I was here to be here. It was just about getting to experience and represent skateboarding, the fun that skateboarding is.

“This is fun, no matter what age you are. It’s the coolest, most fun, most inclusive thing that you can do.

“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.”

::Watch every moment of Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics