Andy Macdonald (born July 31, 1973) is an American professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United Stat ...

. As of September 2013, he holds the record for the most

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

medals in

vert skateboarding Vert skateboarding, short for vertical skateboarding, is the act of riding a skateboard on a skate ramp or other incline and involves the skateboarder transitioning from the horizontal plane to the vertical plane in order to perform skateboardin ...

and won the

World Cup Skateboarding World Cup Skateboarding (WCS), sometimes referred to as World Cup of Skateboarding, is an international skateboarding organization that hosts the World Championships of Skateboarding series and other skateboard competitions. Overview Focusing on t ...

competition eight times. He represented Great Britain at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life

Macdonald is originally from

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. It is situate ...

, and started skateboarding in 1986 when he was 12 years old. He graduated from

Newton North High School Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonvill ...

in 1992. His father, Rodrick Macdonald, was born in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, England.

Professional skateboarding

Macdonald became a professional skateboarder in 1994. In 1998 he was selected the "Best Overall Skater" in the "Readers Poll" of ''

Transworld Skateboarding ''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') is an international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In February 2019, the pub ...

'' magazine, and was also chosen to host ''Transworlds skateboarding "Trick Tip" video, '' Starting Point 2: Transitions''. He has received praise for his perennial consistency as he medals in most of the competitions he enters, even beating out a lot of younger skateboarders. In 1999 Macdonald delivered an anti-drug speech at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

that was preceded by Macdonald skateboarding down the marble floor of the hallway. With SBI Enterprises and Bruce Middleton, Macdonald designed the " Flybar 1200", a type of extreme pogo-stick. In 2022 he announced his intention to try to qualify for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

representing his father's homeland of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, despite the fact that he would be 51 years old at the start of the park skateboard event at the Games. He secured qualification in June 2024 making him the oldest Olympic skateboarder in history. His fellow British skateboarding team members are

Sky Brown is a British-Japanese professional skateboarder and surfer who competes for Great Britain. She was the youngest professional skateboarder in the world, and has also won the American TV programme '' Dancing with the Stars: Juniors''. She repre ...

and Lola Tambling who are both sixteen years old.

Video game appearances

In 1999, he was featured in the video game '' MTV Sports: Skateboarding featuring Andy MacDonald'' for the

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, and PC. He was also featured in the PC game '' Backyard Skateboarding''.

Contest history

*1st in 1996–2000, 2002, 2012

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

*1st in 1997–2002

: vert doubles (with

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

) 3rd in 2009 X Games 15 Vert Competition 2nd in 2009 X Games 15 Park Andy has been involved in promoting skateboarding and its growth, progression and exposure since as far back as his days as an instructor at the YMCA in Peabody MA (1989) right near his hometown of North Andover.

References

External links