He’s an X Games record holder, good friends with Tony Hawk and has skated through the White House, yet unless you were a skateboarding superfan at the turn of the century, Andy Macdonald might not be on your radar.
But should things go to plan, he could be in Team GB colours at the Paris Olympics in 2024 – the year he will turn 50.
“It would be an honour and a very neat way to finish my career of 30 years as a professional skateboarder to be in the Olympics,” he told BBC Sport.
The Olympics wasn’t “in the equation” when ‘Andy Mac’ started out in the sport. Instead, the X Games were – and to many still are – the pinnacle, and to this day Macdonald holds the record for the most X Games medals in vert skateboarding, among his 23 medals across all disciplines.
A handful of those medals are from the doubles events, partnered with Hawk – one of the most influential skateboarders in history.
But with the sport making its debut at Tokyo 2020, the Olympics has brought something new to skateboarding, and that’s something Macdonald wants to embrace.
“I didn’t become a professional skateboarder because I thought one day I could skate in the Olympics,” he said. “Skateboarding has come such a long way globally.
“When you’re out playing cat and mouse with security guards, now you can tell them ‘I’m training for the Olympics, you can’t kick me out of this spot’.
“It’s pretty neat to see this counter-culture sport, this lifestyle, come into its own and people understand that this is a legitimate sport and you can make a living riding a skateboard.”
That’s something Macdonald has done himself, a nine-time world champion with numerous TV and video game appearances and an autobiography.
His squeaky clean image – he actively promotes an alcohol- and drug-free lifestyle – makes him an ideal ambassador for the sport, even three decades on from the start of his career.
Macdonald turned pro in 1994, long before the majority of today’s competitors were born. In Tokyo, GB skateboarders Sky Brown and Bombette Martin were 13 and 15 respectively, yet they could be his team-mates in two summers’ time.
“It would be a cool thing to show the world that skateboarding knows no bounds,” said the father of three. “You can be anybody from anywhere.
“For me, it’s just the experience of being there. It’s not like I’m going to go for the gold – there are so many kids that are going to be miles ahead of me.”
