Britain's Sky Brown executes a routine during the Tokyo Olympics skateboarding women's park final at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on Aug 4, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]
Not your average 'board' teenager, Britain's youngest Olympic medalist targets both a surfing and skateboarding gold
Britain's Olympic skateboarding bronze medalist Sky Brown has a training regime for the Games that means she wakes up early to surf, attends school and then goes skating in the evening.
"I am fifteen though, so I do like to hang out and play with my friends too, but I'm skating and surfing and having fun," she said.
Brown smiles brightly when she talks, and the joy the teenager has for her sports is clear. She is stronger now than when she won bronze in women's park, aged just 13, at the Tokyo 2020 Games, becoming Britain's youngest Olympic medalist in the process.
Last year, Brown became a world champion, claiming gold at park skateboarding in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
However, when it comes to the Olympics, her lofty dreams have stayed much the same.
"I really want to get two golds," she says of her dream of topping the podium in both skating and surfing.
In March, at the ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico, those dreams were cut short for Paris. She placed third in the sixth repechage, with the two spots at the Olympics going to China's Yang Siqi and Spain's Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri.
Though Brown did not secure a place for surfing, she is first alternate for Britain's women's team. If someone gets injured or steps down, Sky would be the replacement.
"Maybe I get in, maybe I don't," she told Reuters, I'm so happy with where I'm at."
Brown will continue surfing and skating every day, as she says that is her lifestyle regardless of competition, "I love skating, I love surfing, it's just what I do," she says.
The teenager, who does not have a coach and maps out her own training, has no worries ahead of Paris. "I'm still young, I'm only fifteen, I have many Olympics ahead of me," she says.
Brown smiles after a practice session at the ISA World Surfing Games in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on Feb 27. [Photo/Agencies]
Crowd support
Though her double-discipline dream is on hold for now, Brown says she will again be aiming for gold in both sports at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, a city she considers home.
While she spends most of her time living and training, which includes playing sports with her friends, in San Clemente, California, Brown was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and speaks certain words with a British accent thanks to her English father.
In 2021, Brown, like all athletes, competed at an empty Olympic venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the Games by a year.
Asked what most excites her about the Paris Olympics, Brown replies that it will be having a crowd cheer her on. "I can't wait to skate in front of a crowd, I feel like that will really push me," she says. Only her father was able to support her in Tokyo.
"My mom and my brother didn't get to come to the last Olympics, and I was really bummed about that."
This time will be different though. "I'm definitely really excited to get them to come and have my dad supporting me again, too," adds Brown.
Brown, who has been vocal about inspiring young girls to go after their dreams, says that she will also be looking out for other faces in the crowd.
"I'm definitely keeping an eye out for little girls watching me. Maybe before I take a run, I'll see a little girl and it'll put a fire in my heart to push harder," she says.
Written on the back of her skating helmet is a motto she has been repeating for years: "Be brave, be strong, have fun and do it because you love it."
The precocious teen, who is soon to turn 16, says that she aims to enjoy every minute of competition, and the journey she takes to get there.
