Sky Brown has packed a lot into her short life already.

The 16-year-old became Great Britain’s youngest-ever medallist when she won skateboarding bronze at Tokyo 2020 aged just 13 years and 28 days.

She is set for a second Games, and even attempted to qualify in two sports, with surfing another big passion.

Brown was born and still lives in Miyazaki in Japan to a Japanese mother and British father and splits her time between Japan and California.

Her first brush with fame came aged just four years old when her father Stu posted a clip of her skateboarding on Facebook.

She became a professional athlete six years later, signing a Nike deal to become the youngest-ever athlete on their roster.

Ten was also the age her Olympic journey began, competing in an Olympic qualifier in Long Beach, California.

Brown won, doing so with a pink cast on her arm having broken it just a week before - but that is in no way the worst injury she has suffered.

Just a year out from the rescheduled Tokyo Games, Brown fractured her skull after falling head first from a half-pipe ramp in training, also suffering deep cuts to her heart and lungs.

“I was just skating, like every day, and then I was knocked out. I don’t remember anything about the fall,” she told the Guardian in 2021.

“But apparently when I woke up, I didn’t know who I was or who my family were.

“It actually made me more excited and more pumped up. It made me want to go harder.”

Her enthusiasm for getting back on the board was not shared by her mum Mieko, who struggled to watch Brown skate for several months after the accident.

Her parents are aware of her clear talent, with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk saying Brown “could be one of the best female skaters ever, if not one of the best well-rounded skaters ever, regardless of gender”.

In 2019, she became the first woman to land a frontside 540 - spinning one and a half rotations in the air - at the X Games.

She went on to win the same competition two years later, just a month before heading to the Olympics, where after falling on her first two runs she scored 56.47 to become Great Britain’s first medallist in the sport.

Amazingly, she finished behind an athlete even younger than herself with Kokona Hiraki claiming silver in a Japanese one-two aged just 12.

There was no return to normal life for Brown, who defended her X Games crown in 2022 before becoming the first British skateboarder to be crowned world champion in 2023.

Alongside that was also the small matter of trying to make more history by becoming the first Briton in over 100 years to compete in two sports at the same summer Olympics.

Brown has been surfing since she was four and came close to pulling off the audacious move of qualifying in both events.

She missed out after being knocked out at the World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico in March but hopes to achieve the feat at the LA Games in 2028.

“It was pretty tough, but I've learned so much,” she said after just falling short on this occasion. “I will keep it with me forever.

"I'm definitely super proud. I made it quite far. I wish I could have gone a little further.

"I wish I could have done it in Paris, but LA is my home, so bring it on in LA.”

It is that kind of attitude that has allowed Brown to ride the highs and lows of elite sport, with injury disrupting her skateboarding preparations for Paris, as she tore her MCL in April.

Brown’s supreme ability on the skateboard brought her initial virality and recognition in the UK – she has a combined following of 4.21 million across her social platforms – but she drew attention in the US for very different reasons.

Aged 10 and largely unknown, Brown competed on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors, a kids’ version of Strictly Come Dancing. She won, naturally – even turning down a place at the X Games to take part in the show.

So, what is there left for someone to do after achieving so much so young?

“I have so many dreams, but my main one now is to go to underprivileged places and teach kids to skate,” she said.

“I feel like skateboarding – and other sports – helps people who are struggling.”

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