London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 11, 2026

GB's Sky Brown eyes surfing at Paris 2024

GB's Sky Brown eyes surfing at Paris 2024

After making history by becoming Great Britain's youngest Olympic medal winner of all time, skateboarder Sky Brown is already plotting her next move - in surfing.

The 13-year-old claimed bronze in the inaugural women's park final in Tokyo, and immediately raised the prospect of competing in two sports at Paris 2024.

Her father, Stu, revealed he dissuaded his daughter from trying to compete in surfing as well as skateboarding in Tokyo, but admits he may be powerless to stop her again.

"It'll be up to her by then. She'll be 16, and it's hard enough now," he joked.

Sky goes surfing most days before school and has competed at junior levels, finishing second in an aerial surfing invitational in Texas.

There could be one issue making it challenging for Sky to realise her ambition - the surfing is due to be held in Tahiti, nearly 10,000 miles from the French capital where the skateboarding will take place.

The Sky's the limit

Sky often gets up at 5am to surf with her younger brother Ocean

Having never had a skateboarding coach, Sky learns most of her tricks from watching YouTube videos, and her natural sporting talent appears to transfer to the water.

Sky, who splits her time between the United States and Japan, often takes advantage of the Californian climate and surfs with her dad, and brother Ocean.

When asked whether it was possible to compete in both events in 2024, she said: "Maybe. I really hope so - I'm definitely going to try [to compete in] surfing.

"I'm going to go surf a lot after here. I'm excited to see my brother again."

But that's for 2024. For now, Sky says she is living a "dream" after skateboarding success at Tokyo 2020. It's been quite the journey.

The comeback kid


Warning: external video from Sky's Instagram account contains footage some viewers may find distressing.


If the Games were held in 2020, it's highly unlikely Sky would have been fit to compete in Tokyo.

Stu said his daughter was "lucky to be alive" after crashing last May between two ramps while attempting a jump in training, fracturing her skull, breaking her left arm and wrist, and suffering lacerations to her heart and lungs.

Her parents wanted her to stop skating but she said: "This will not stop me. I am going for gold in Tokyo 2021."

In June a video was posted on her Instagram showing the moment she lost control at the top of a ramp. It cut away before the fall to a shot of an air ambulance, followed by a message to her followers from her hospital bed, black eye, arm in a cast.

Nothing is normal for this incredibly talented 13-year-old but perhaps this video, which has more than two million views, underlines just how different her life is.

Sky also tumbled before her Olympic qualifier, breaking her arm, but still came first while wearing a protective cast.

She breezed into Wednesday's final in Tokyo, making light work of her heat with the second-highest score.

It was a nervy start as she fell in her first two runs, putting her fourth going into her last effort - which she admitted she wasn't expecting.

"I thought I was gonna get it. I was a little shocked after the first run. Then after the second fall, I was like, 'Am I gonna make it?'

"Sakura [Yosozumi, Japan's gold medal winner] told me: 'You got it, Sky. We know you're gonna make it'. That really made me feel better."

Words of encouragement from her dad also helped.

"He was like: 'You know, it's just a contest. It doesn't define you.' That made me feel better - it is just a contest and if you fall, that's what it is," added Sky.

The teenager, who celebrated her 13th birthday just 16 days before the opening ceremony in Tokyo, showed incredible composure to get a clean final run and complete the kickflip indy - the trick that wiped her out in her first two attempts - to seal the bronze with a score of 56.47.

'I believed in myself'
Aged 13 years and 28 days, Sky Brown has also broken Margery Hinton's 93-year-old record to become the youngest athlete to represent Team GB at a summer Games


Sky, who was born a month before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, speaks incredibly maturely for a teenager. After finishing on the podium said she hoped more young girls would follow in her footsteps.

"I really hope I inspire young girls. I feel like people aren't too young that they can't do it, but if you believe in yourself you can do anything. I believed in myself," she said.

"Anyone can do skateboarding. You don't have to be of a certain height or have to be a certain age - you can do it whenever you want. You've just got to skate and go for it."

Sky Brown facts


*  Sky's dad Stu is English, but he moved to the United States in his teens. He and Sky's mum Mieko met in Japan, where both Mieko and Sky were born and the family - which also includes Sky's brother Ocean - are now based.

*  Skateboarding runs in the family; Stu first introduced his daughter to the sport while competing as an amateur, alongside his work in marketing.

*  Her skateboarding commitments - her first Olympic qualifier was in Long Beach when she was 10 - mean she splits her time between California and Miyazaki.

*  Because her sporting career is so hectic and requires so much travel, Sky only attends school - in Orange County - twice a week and tops up her learning online.

*  Sky also loves dancing and singing, and in 2018 turned down a place at the X Games to focus on the the junior edition of Dancing with the Stars - the US version of Strictly Come Dancing - which she won.

*  Sky holds a number of sponsorship contracts, and was snapped up by Nike after turning professional in 2018 at the age of 10, becoming their youngest athlete.

*  Stu says they chose Team GB rather than Japan because of the laid-back approach of Skateboard GB chair Lucy Adams, which matched their feelings about how to develop their daughter's talents.

'A crazy achievement' - the reaction





Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Cross-Party MPs Call for National Climate Emergency Broadcast
Bayeux Tapestry Arrives in the United Kingdom for Landmark Exhibition
United Kingdom Launches Modern Slavery Prevention Programme in Vietnam
Police Warn Against Misinformation Following Disorder in Glasgow
Pension Reform Takes Effect to Consolidate Workplace Savings Industry
Treasury and Bank of England Monitor Economy as Energy Price Pressures Ease
Government Orders Treasury Reform of Disciplinary Procedures Following Civil Servant's Death
Ofcom to Require Major Technology Platforms to Block Scam Advertisements
Labour Apologizes Over Gaza Position in Bid to Rebuild Support
High Court Rules UK-France Asylum Agreement Protection Cuts Were Unlawful
Metropolitan Police Open Murder Investigation Into Death of Former MP Ann Widdecombe
University College London Report Proposes Replacing Council Tax and Stamp Duty With National Property Tax
Treasury Places Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle Under New UK Financial System Oversight Rules
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
UK Energy Strategy Focuses on Storage and Offshore Wind to Support Renewable Transition
Regional Governments Gain Greater Role in Britain’s Infrastructure and Economic Strategy
Britain Strengthens Technology Sovereignty Through Tougher Artificial Intelligence Competition Rules
UK Government Expands Artificial Intelligence Use Across Public Services Despite Privacy Debate
UK Universities Warn of Financial Pressure After Sharp Fall in International Student Enrolment
Welsh Government Completes Rail Nationalisation With One Point Five Billion Pound Modernisation Plan
Northern Ireland Records Export Growth as Companies Benefit From Dual UK and EU Market Access
Greater Manchester Launches Two Billion Pound Plan to Convert Empty Commercial Sites Into Housing
National Grid Connects Europe’s Largest Battery Storage Facility in Yorkshire
UK Defence Ministry Plans Royal Navy Autonomous Fleet Deployment to Indo-Pacific
Scotland Approves Europe’s Largest Floating Offshore Wind Project Near Aberdeen
Competition and Markets Authority Blocks Forty Billion Pound Technology Deal Over AI Security Concerns
UK Launches Five Hundred Million Pound Artificial Intelligence Network for National Health Service Diagnostics
Bank of England Signals Possible Interest Rate Cuts After Inflation Falls Below Target
UK Government Unveils Major Wealth Tax Reform to Fund National Health Service Infrastructure Expansion
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Barclays and PwC Report Examines Economic Opportunities from Financial Asset Tokenisation
Pound Sterling Strengthens as Investors Anticipate Further Bank of England Rate Increases
British Business Bank Invests Twenty-Seven Million Pounds in Kraken Technology Defence Expansion
UK Business Secretary Peter Kyle Backs State Investment Strategy Inspired by US Approach
UK Electricity System Issues Margin Notice as Heatwave Tightens Evening Supply Outlook
Labour Leadership Contest Opens as Andy Burnham Emerges as Expected Sole Candidate
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
×