Spend any period of time speaking to those involved with Team GB’s skateboarding setup and the chances are an often repeated phrase will emerge. “Age is just a number” is not a novel mantra. But it has rarely been more apt in a sporting context than for Britain’s skateboarding contingent heading for the Paris Olympics this month.
At one end of the scale is Sky Brown, a teenage veteran who won bronze at the Tokyo Games weeks after her 13th birthday to become Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist. She will be 16 when she looks to upgrade that medal to gold at the Place de la Concorde, the same age as her GB teammate Lola Tambling. Their compatriot, Andy Macdonald, also has an upcoming birthday, which he plans to celebrate aboard the Eurostar travelling to compete at his debut Olympics: his 51st, making him the oldest skateboarder in the sport’s short Olympic history.
Macdonald is one of skateboarding’s most recognisable names and a self-styled “Rad Dad”. He insists he is not the only one still knocking about on the circuit, but few have been more successful than him and none continue to be in relative old age. Following an illustrious career, it was watching the inaugural Olympic skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Games from afar that made him realise he had one more summit to conquer.
Born and bred in the US, Macdonald took advantage of his father’s Luton heritage to gain a British passport and set about securing qualification for Paris; a goal he achiev.