51-Year-Old Skateboarder Competes at Paris 2024 Olympics — and Gets Standing Ovation from Tony Hawk

Mar. 15, 2025

From Left: Andy Macdonald; and Tony Hawk.Photo:Garry Jones/Getty; AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Garry Jones/Getty; AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Skateboarder Andy Macdonald competed in anotherSummer Olympicsin Paris this year — and at 51 years old, he is also wrapping up his last.

Although he eventually placed 18th out of the 22 men in his heat with a score of 77.66 and didn’tmedal, Macdonald was still a crowd favorite at the Place de la Concorde. According to theAssociated Press, he got screams and cheers from the crowd when he finished his performance on Wednesday with a backflip. He even got a standing ovation from his longtime friend and skateboarding iconTony Hawkafter completing the move.

“I did that for the crowd and it was just about getting to experience and represent for skateboarding,” Macdonald told AP of what he dubbed his “one big trick.” He added, “I was trying to represent like, ‘Hey, this is fun no matter what age you are.’ This is like the coolest, funnest, most inclusive thing that you can do.”

Andy Macdonald on Aug. 7, 2024.John Walton/PA Images via Getty

John Walton/PA Images via Getty

“My mom’s accepted that I’m an Olympian and a skateboarder at the same time,” he joked. “So that’s my greatest accomplishment.”

“I could have fallen on every run and just be as happy as I am now. It doesn’t matter,” Macdonald added to the Olympics press team after his run. “It’s just been the experience of a lifetime. The first few days I was here. I was getting like, four hours of sleep because I was up in the Olympic Village. I bought an electric skateboard so I was just zooming around, just like meeting everybody.”

“Right over there, at the Grand Palais,Tony Hawkand I did a demo, and my son, who’s 18, was just a toddler. He fell asleep during the demo,” Macdonald told Olympics.com. “For Tony and mine’s generation, skateboarding was the antithesis of Olympic sport. And we became skateboarders because we didn’t want organized sport.”

Andy Macdonald on Aug. 7, 2024.Garry Jones/Getty

Garry Jones/Getty

The skater, who ended up Olympic run after his performance on Wednesday, told AP that simply having fun was one of his top priorities at the games.

“I did that for the crowd and it was just about getting to experience and represent for skateboarding,” Macdonald told the outlet, referring to his final backflip. “I was trying to represent like, ‘hey, this is fun no matter what age you are.’ This is like the coolest, funnest, most inclusive thing that you can do.”

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source: people.com