If you’re a skater, odds are you already know the British-Japanese dynamite that is Sky Brown. Heck, we wouldn’t even be surprised if anyone at all with an internet access has seen the many viral videos of this eleven year old shredding gnar and winning not just the competition, but also the hearts of her audience as she does it.  

https://youtu.be/AhXIl9FfBoQ

With skateboarding’s debut as one of the competitive sports in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Sky has already racked up the accolades to enable her to attempt to qualify. If she does, she is set to become the youngest British Olympian ever.

Just the past year, her list of achievements include winning third place in the 2019 World Skateboarding Championship, becoming the first female to land a frontside 540 at the X Games, and placing third at the 2020 Park World Skateboarding Championship in Brazil. She is the youngest Nike sponsored athlete in the world, and is supported by Almost Skateboards and Skateistan, a non profit NGO that uses skateboarding and education to empower children.

As one of the most popular athletes on social media with the numerous contest wins to back it up, Sky is well on her way to qualify and skate her way to the gold in the recently rescheduled July 2021 Olympics. 

But while she is in the aftermath of a life threatening accident during training for the summer games, Sky is now on the road to recovery and we can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. But who is Sky, anyway? Let’s find out.

Sky Brown the myth, the legend, the girl.

Photo by Johnny Weeks | The Guardian 

Sky Brown was born in 2008 in Miyazaki, Japan to a British father, Stuart, and a Japanese mother, Mieko. Along with her little brother, another noteworthy young athlete named Ocean, they split their time living between their US home in Huntingdon Beach, south of Los Angeles, and Miyazaki, a city in the southern part of Japan.

“I was probably about three years old when I started,” she said in an interview with the Telegraph. “I used to watch my dad on his (skateboard) all the time. I would follow him around and as soon as I could, I was on one.”

This was the humble beginnings of what would be our beloved skater girl. According to her, she never received formal training or even any pressure to hop on board from her family. She would simply watch her dad and friends skate, and watch instructional YouTube videos thereafter. 

 “I wanted to copy him,” Sky said, referring to her dad. “I think I was taking it seriously from the age of three probably. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t skate, so it must have been really young.”

Despite her father’s initial disapproval, Sky was adamant on getting on board in their backyard ramp where she was a natural, easily learning kick turns, kick flips, and other tricks.

“I didn’t want her to get on a skateboard,” Stuart said in an interview. “You have a little girl, and you want to wrap her in cotton wool. But it was the one toy she kept going back to.”

Needless to say, there was no stopping Sky’s determination. Her skills on the board easily progressed at her tender age. This was when Stu uploaded footage of the then 5-year-old Sky onto Facebook. This was how the world discovered and fell in love with Sk

https://youtu.be/7Xh__5Wa2dg

The seemingly overnight rise to fame led to numerous opportunities. At age 7, she finally competed in her first local contest and by the following year, she became the youngest girl to compete in the 2016 Vans US Open Pro Series.

Only after three years down the line, she won bronze at the World Skateboarding Championships in Brazil which officially marked her as an Olympic contender. 

From there, she had a bevy of opportunities for media exposure so as to include participation in the 2018 reality http://www.foxtrot-marine.com/ show, Dancing with the Stars: Juniors, where she also bagged the win.

In 2020, she became Nike’s youngest sponsored athlete by taking part in their campaign “Dream Crazier,” where she is joined by some of the greatest female athletes in the world including Simone Biels, Chloe Kim, and Serena Williams.

https://youtu.be/zWfX5jeF6k4

The campaign talks about the obstacles females face in the male-dominated world of sports and how they face these head on and succeed. This could not be more true to the message Sky has always imparted. 

When talking about her attempt at the Olympics, she says she “wants to be the youngest one out there [to]  show the https://princessmonkey.com/ girls it doesn’t matter how big you are or how small you are. You can do anything.”

Since the beginning of her career, Sky has always advocated for Women Empowerment. She often recalls how she would be the only girl in the skatepark back in Japan, and how she encourages others not to be afraid or feel limited in their size and gender, but to fulfill their potential as she has. 

Because of this belief, she has partnered up with Almost Skateboards and Skateistan, an award winning non profit that empowers youth through skateboarding and education. The organization had just built a skate school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and collaborated with Sky to design a board to be sold and raise funds for the institution. 

https://youtu.be/fUSthWZWaw4

Sky Brown, the 11-year old: daughter, sister, friend

Despite being called a “skateboarding prodigy,” and getting educated both in the US and in Japan for most of her life, Sky’s family still tries to keep her as level-headed as possible.

According to Stu, while their priority is still just to keep life fun and allow their daughter to make her own decisions, they still have to maintain parental control to make sure that their children are grounded.

But with almost 600,000 followers on Instagram, Sky is already one of the most popular athletes ever. She is currently https://chetroy.com/ renowned for being the youngest athlete to compete in the Olympics in 80 years. 

Celebrated as it is, the age factor was not something that would slip past Sky’s parents. Apparently, if the decision was left solely with them, she would compete in 2024 when she’s 16. 

Sky, however, had an unshakeable drive and wanted an Olympic-size platform to encourage girls around the world to pick up a skateboard. “I was just calling her (Lucy Adams) a lot and I was begging my parents too, like ‘can I be in the Olympics, please,’?” she said. “If they watch me skate or do this trick, they’ll think maybe they can do it, too.”

Being a dual citizen of two great nations, Sky was also highly sought out for her talents when she was first marked a contender for the Olympics. She ultimately chose to represent the British persuaded by the more relaxed approach Skateboard Great Britain Chair Lucy Adams had on her.

https://youtu.be/JG-vn_cI7pU

According to Lucy, she knew that sky would be a big inspiration to many girls across the globe and that she would help raise the participation of skateboarding especially among females. 

“We wouldn’t have had it on our radar from Japan asking her to be on their team. To be honest if it hadn’t been for Lucy [Adams]…. we were adamant we weren’t going to let Sky do it,” Stu said.

But with the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic effectively rescheduling the Tokyo Summer Olympics to July 2021, Sky now has plenty of time to get in shape and live her best life being what she ultimately is– a kid.

When asked about her daily routine, Sky tells us that her days are mostly composed of getting up at 5AM in the morning for a surf session before school, a jiu jitsu or guitar lesson afterwards and then https://www.gadata.org/ hitting the beach when there are waves or a skate park near her home when there are none. This is where three-time Olympic gold medallist Shaun White sometimes joins her. Talk about ‘you are the company you keep’ ringing true. 

‘Even Beyonce falls’ – Sky 

On May 28, 2020, the whole skate community stopped in its tracks when Sky had a horrific fall from a half-pipe ramp while training. They have since released a video showing the accident and the aftermath. 

https://youtu.be/UnLO30eOfK8

She was taken to a hospital in a helicopter and was reportedly unresponsive upon arrival. It had been revealed that she suffered multiple skull fractures and a broken left wrist, but is fortunately already on the road to recovery.

 “Sky landed head first off a ramp on her hand,” Stu said. “When she first came to the hospital, everyone was fearful for her life… Sky had the gnarliest fall she’s ever had and is lucky to be alive.”

Despite the setback, Sky maintains her cheery attitude and the passion she still has for skateboarding.

In a video she released on her YouTube Channel, she said that “It’s OK to fall sometimes. I’m just going to get back up and push even harder. I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now and I want everyone to know that whatever we do, we’ve got to do it with love and happiness.” 

In the video, Sky is in a hospital bed surrounded by stuffed animals and balloons, with a swollen left eye and left arm in a cast. 

Sky wrote in the description of the video: “This was my worst fall yet. My helmet and arm saved my life. This will not stop me. I am going for gold in Tokyo 2021. Stay strong. Stay positive.”

“I want people to see the fun in what I do, but this was my worst fall, and I just want everyone to know that I’m OK,” she added. 

Since the release of the video, Sky has been on the fast lane towards recovery and keeping her followers updated with videos of her dancing on Instagram or creating comedic skits with her family on Tiktok. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CChLRQbp5jc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

As for what this means for Sky and her bid to the Olympics, the objective remains the same: “If I make my good tricks and my best run I will be happy with what place I get,” Sky said in an older interview. “Other than that, in 2020 I am going to carry on skating, go to school, surfing and doing my normal life.”

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