- Sky Brown is a skateboarder that will be on Team GB, becoming the youngest competitor for a Summer Olympic event to represent England.
- The athlete is 13 years old and expected to medal for Great Britain for skateboarding.
- The Tokyo Summer Olympics will debut the sport of skateboarding as an Olympic one for the first time in the history of the Olympics.
LONDON – Since 1928, Margery Hinton, a British swimmer, has held the record as the youngest summer Olympian to represent England yet almost 100 years later, Sky Brown will now hold that title and break the record.
Brown is a famous skateboarder that will be 13 years and 11 days old when the 2020 Olympic Games begin on July 23. Hinton was 13 years and 44 days old at the time of her event, being edged out by Brown by a mere 33 days.
But the youngest Olympian in England’s history was in 1932, during the Winter Olympics where Cecilia Colledge figure skated for her country at the tender age of 11.
Who Is Sky Brown?
Sky Brown is the daughter of a Japanese mother and an English father, which is how she is able to represent Team Great Britain (GB) in the Olympic Games.
The young athlete speaks fluent Japanese and is hoping not to cause any issues with Japan by being on Team GB. She would like to bring the countries together and has said she wants to connect with the Japanese fans in their native language if given the chance.
Brown placed third in the World Skate qualifiers. She has been skateboarding since she was in preschool as she comes from a family of surfers and skateboarders. One day, she would like to represent both sports in the Olympics because she is very passionate.
For now though, she will take the win of being the youngest to compete for Team GB in their Summer Olympic history as well as be a part of the debut of Olympic skateboarding as a recognized sport.
“I’m just doing my thing, having fun,” said Brown. “I’m just a girl doing what she loves!”
Brown hopes to be an inspiration at the Tokyo Olympics to young girls all over the world to show them that anything is possible. She would also like to get more girls into the sport. She realizes that skateboarding can be scary, having endured a skull fracture and multiple broken bones over a year ago during practice but that incident has not deterred her in any way.
“I get scared all the time, in skateboarding, I get scared a lot, “said Brown. “Also, that’s what’s cool about skateboarding, you never know what’s coming next. I do get scared all the time but I like the feeling of beating my scaredness, it’s a bit like beating myself.”
When Will The Competition Begin?
Brown will be skateboarding into the Olympics on August 4-5. The event will be taking place at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. While the young competitor is expected to medal for Team GB, there may not be any odds on her specifically to be found on regulated state sportsbooks due to her age.
However, nearing the time of the event, other online sportsbooks may put odds on the young athlete. Either way, Sky Brown is a name that will not soon be forgotten in the world of sports for years to come.