Sky Brown, a young skating sensation, nearly died in May of last year when she fell 15 feet onto her head while transitioning between vert ramps at a skate park in California.
The 12-year-head old’s was cracked, her wrist and hand were broken, and she was rendered unconscious as she was taken to the hospital.
Brown’s performance at the Olympics will undoubtedly leave you speechless – which is exactly what she wants. “If people see me, the smallest girl, doing the highest trick, then anyone could think they could do anything,” she said.
It’s no surprise that Mark England, Team GB’s chef de mission, was overjoyed when she decided to join the British team despite attention from the US and Japanese Olympic teams. He called her selection, along with that of fellow adolescent prodigy Bombette Martin, “very thrilling” for a sport that is making its Olympic debut.
“I’m just excited to be in the Olympics. Skating the new bowl, skating with all my friends again, and hopefully getting gold and inspiring people,” she said with a 100-watt smile. “It’s a crazy feeling. It’s like more than a dream come true. I mean, it’s insane. I’m so stoked and I’m going to try my best for Britain.”
Brown, a personality girl who stands just over 4ft 6in tall, is a confident trait who makes inspirational statements to her audience that occasionally seem scripted – “I just want everyone to know it’s OK to fall sometimes,” she said after waking up from her horror accident, her face swollen and her eye still blackened.
At the age of 13 years and 11 days, Sky Brown become Britain’s youngest summer Olympian as she competes in Tokyo alongside 14-year-old Bombette Martin, making history as skateboarding’s first appearance on the world’s biggest stage.
