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NY Times – Skateboarding often favors the young. The gold medalists in Tokyo in 2021, when the sport made its Olympic debut, were 22, 19, 18 and 13. An 11-year-old, Zheng Haohao of China, will compete in Paris this summer.
So will Andy Macdonald. He’s 50.
Macdonald, who was born in the United States but is representing Britain because he has a British father, will be 51 by the time he competes in the park event, in which skaters do tricks in a bowl with ramps, bumps and pipes.
I had to take a triple take when I saw this headline. I was scratching my head like…Andy Macdonald….Andy Macdonald…how do I know that name….oh wait, you mean THAT Andy Macdonald????
Yup.
THAT Andy Macdonald, who you used to watch skateboard on your 13 inch Magnavox TV/VCR combo, is headed to the Olympics at the ripe old age of 50. Is your mind sufficiently bottled, or do you need a refresher?
Look- I’m 35 years old. I broke my foot getting out of an Uber. Andy is 15 years older than me and is still so good at skateboarding he’s going to the god damn Olympics! If that isn’t humbling, god damn. I am always so impressed by people who continue to operate at such a high level late into their life. He was hitting 720s 25 years ago and is still going strong. Meanwhile I have to foam roll my back after a long day of doing very little. Suffice to say, I’m very jealous of folks like Andy who are just built different.
Skateboading has come a long way since it was a miracle Tony Hawk landed a 900. I remember watching him crash and burn time after time after time trying to land it. Now we got 6 year olds doing it before they can wipe their own ass.
Just shows how much more impressive this is for Andy to be headed to Paris.
And seriously, what the fuck, how is that kid doing that? I need an Advil.
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