SKY BROWN became Great Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist after picking up bronze in skateboarding aged 13 at the Tokyo Games.
Now 16, Sky is back in action in Paris aiming to go for the top prize.
After sealing bronze in Tokyo, Sky took the time after her performance to thank friends and family, most notably her parents, who were at first hesitant to see their daughter compete.
But they won’t be regretting their decision after her bronze medal-winning showing.
Sky got her love of skateboarding from her father Stuart, who has also plied his trade as a professional skateboarder.
Stuart is from the UK and is one of the biggest influences on his daughter’s career.
“I remember her, as a baby, on her tummy all the time on a skateboard. It sounds like a cliche but it was her favourite toy,” he told The Guardian.
Stuart never skated at the Olympics like Sky, but has ensured his own legacy will continue with her.
Stuart posted a video of Sky skating on Facebook when she was just four and the clip went viral, catapulting her career to what it is now.
Sky’s mother is Mieko, who is Japanese, which made the Tokyo Games an even more special moment for Sky, who was born in Japan.
Mieko is said to take a more hands-off approach with Sky’ skateboarding career, but she does manager her daughters’s Instagram profile.
Sky also has a brother called Ocean, who is just nine years old and also skates.
Stuart and Mieko were initially against Sky competing at the Games after she fell off her board in a horrible incident in 2020.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
One of the hottest spectacles of Paris 2024 is the 1500m men’s final (7.50pm) – will it be gold for either Josh Kerr or Jakob Ingebrigtsen in their epic rivalry?
World champion Sky Brown, now 16, wants to upgrade her Tokyo bronze to Paris gold in the women’s park skateboarding final but is battling back from a dislocated shoulder (4.30pm).
Ben Maher on board Dallas Vegas Batilly is into the final of the individual jumping equestrian alongside Harry Charles and Scott Brash after coming through the 74-rider qualifying and could defend his Tokyo gold after already securing the team title in Paris (9am).
BRITS TO WATCH
Jack Laugher goes in the 3m springboard diving preliminaries with Jordan Houlden (9am) before Andrea Spendolini Sirieix goes in the 10m platform final (2pm).
Lewis Richardson is already guaranteed a bronze in the 71kg boxing but has his semi-final at Roland Garros at 8.45pm.
The women’s 200m gives Dina Asher-Smith a chance to make up for her disappointing 100m result (final 8.40pm).
Jack Carlin, Ed Lowe and Hamish Turnbull team up in the track cycling men’s team sprint today with the final at 7.10pm, hoping to wrestle back the gold they won in Beijing, London and Rio.
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
Emma Hayes’ USA women’s football team face Germany in the semi-final in Lyon (5pm).
Kellie Harrington will go for back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the ring with the Irish star’s 60kg final vs China’s Yang Wenlu at 10pm – two bouts after Imane Khelif’s 66kg semi-final.
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
It wouldn’t be the Olympics without some wrestling would it?
There is both freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines throughout the day at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
STATS MAD
A Hoy Where? For the first time since Atlanta 1996, the Team GB cycling track team will neither feature a certain Sir Chris Hoy nor Sir Jason Kenny. Just the 16 Olympic medals between those two legends, 13 of them gold.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
Sky fell head-first off a ramp and fractured her skull, receiving lacerations to her heart and lungs in the process.
“I don’t remember anything about the fall,” Sky said.
“But apparently when I woke up, I didn’t know who I was or who my family was.
“My parents didn’t want me to do the Olympics, but I wanted to. They felt it was too much pressure.”
Mieko now struggles to watch Sky compete out of fear, and will mostly watch her events after they’re done.
“It was really hard for my wife,” husband Stuart said.
“It took a long time before she could see Sky skate again. She doesn’t really watch her anymore. She’ll watch videos afterward but not live.”
