Sky’s the limit for ‘Double Gold’ MacDonald Winnipeg teen making his mark on international Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene By: Taylor Allen Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 Last Modified: 8:13 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 Updates

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Logan “Double Gold” MacDonald.

It’s not a nickname just anyone can have.

It is a moniker the 17-year-old Winnipegger has earned for his dominance in both versions of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ): Gi — meaning combatants wear traditional martial arts uniforms — and No-Gi — where participants wear shorts and a t-shirt.

BJJ is a combat sport developed in Brazil nearly 100 years ago that can be described as wrestling with submission holds.

“I’m pretty humble and pretty well-mannered so I kind of get shy when people call me Double Gold, especially people that I don’t know,” Logan told the Free Press Tuesday.

“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve been like ‘I don’t want to be called Double Gold anymore,’ but I do think it’s really cool. I’m embracing the name. I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea about it and think I’m too cocky or confident.”

Logan first started BJJ at the age of four, but it was at the age of 10 when things started to click for him.

“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve been like ‘I don’t want to be called Double Gold anymore,’ but I do think it’s really cool. I’m embracing the name. I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea about it and think I’m too cocky or confident.”–Logan MacDonald

“I showed him a video on YouTube of Mike Tyson and how he gets his head in the game for fighting. So, I showed him that and I was like ‘You see what I mean? When he decides to go in (the ring), the only focus is winning and that he can’t lose. Losing is not an option.’ Those were the kinds of things that started to resonate with him. And then he literally started winning everything,” said Matt MacDonald, Logan’s father and the owner of Balance Jiu Jitsu gym in downtown Winnipeg.

“He would win Gi and No-Gi at the Manitoba Open, he’d win Gi and No-Gi at the CopaSask, the Western Kids Open, the Queen City Open, and it just kept happening over and over again. So, the scene in Winnipeg, they dubbed him “Double Gold” because every tournament he went to, he won two golds.”

Logan started training in BJJ with his dad in the family’s basement. Matt, who was introduced to combat sports from his father Bill MacDonald, a fourth-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate, is as well-versed as they come as he has black belts in BJJ, Jishin Do Jiu Jitsu, Shotokan Karate, and Taekwon-Do.

Matt was a barber at the time at Edward Carriere and was teaching classes on how to cut hair. One of his co-workers had a son around Logan’s age who wanted to give combat sports a try. Matt started to train him as he figured it would be good for Logan to have someone his size to work with. And then word began to spread, leading to co-workers, friends, and clients sending their kids to Matt

“It got to a point where I had 20 kids training out of my basement,” said Matt, who co-owns Balance with his wife Marcia. Marcia now trains the young kids, in addition to teaching yoga at the facility.

“Being a part of the education staff at Edward Carriere is kind of where I honed my teaching skills. It’s kind of funny how teaching people how to cut hair translated to this but I guess (it gave me the ability) to figure out how to put together a class and break things down for people so that it could be understood.”

It ended up turning into a family-run business out of a rented space at 1000 Notre Dame Ave, and now Logan, a Grade 12 student at Kelvin High School, helps teach classes.

When he isn’t instructing at Balance, Logan is travelling around North America to further his own training and compete against the best at his age. After dominating the Prairies, Logan started testing himself on national and international stages. There were some growing pains at first, but Logan had his breakthrough moment at the 2020 PAN Kids championship in San Diego, Calif., at the age of 14. The event brings in some of the best young athletes from around the world and Logan won gold in his division by beating an accomplished competitor from Brazil in the final.

“I think it teaches a lot of discipline, like a lot of other martial arts. It teaches how to compete, how to defend yourself, and it teaches confidence.”–Logan MacDonald

“It was the moment I realized it was possible for me to succeed in this sport. Putting all my time into jiu jitsu paid off and I knew I could keep going with it after that,” said Logan. “It was a big eye opener that I was at that level and I could continue to advance at that level.”

Logan made history by becoming the first Manitoban to win gold at the PAN Kids tournament. He hasn’t slowed down since, as this year alone has seen Logan capture bronze at the International BJJ Federation’s (IBJJF) World Championships, followed by double gold in his first adult division competition with a strong showing at a Grappling Industries event in Minneapolis. Last weekend, Logan was in Anaheim, Calif., for the IBJJF’s No-Gi World Championships and brought home a gold and silver.

Starting next year, Logan will begin competing as an adult. His goal in the long run is to become a black belt world champion, which is the sport’s equivalent of winning an Olympic gold medal. But for right now, Logan hopes his success can help BJJ grow locally.

“I think it teaches a lot of discipline, like a lot of other martial arts. It teaches how to compete, how to defend yourself, and it teaches confidence,” said Logan.

“I think it’s a really important sport for people to get into and for kids to learn.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31