McDonald is largely credited with getting the sport of triathlon into the Olympic Games, with the inaugural race taking place at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. He is a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (2007), the BC Sports Hall of Fame (2009), and the ITU Hall of Fame (2014). He was awarded the Olympic Order in 2010, in Vancouver, by the International Olympic Committee.