For most, mastering the art of walking is the sole mission during formative years, but for Sky Brown, touching the vast heights of her namesake was her driving force. Picking up a skateboard at the age of 3 and trawling YouTube for inspiration, Sky’s passion proliferated into viral fame a year later with video footage of the young prodigy excitedly and fearlessly tackling tricks beyond her years; ten years on, and Sky has transcended the transitions of her local mini ramp to become Team GB’s youngest ever Olympic medallist with a bronze placement at Tokyo 2020. Now older, stronger, and wiser, she looks to accrue more accolades on the world’s stage, landing an optimistic 4th place spot at the Paris Summer Games after a turbulent qualifying saga.
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Like the proverbial “fart rock” under the wheel of an unassuming skater, Sky’s success has been far from a smooth ride. The build up to each Olympic competition has been marred by injuries for the Miyazaki, Japan native; she took a well-documented slam whilst training on Tony Hawk’s private vert ramp in California during the final weeks before the Tokyo event, fracturing her skull and breaking her left wrist, and suffered a serious MCL tear just prior to her final opportunity to rack up World Skate ranking points at the final Olympic Qualifier Series event in Budapest last weekend. With her dream on the line, Sky steeled herself for a podium-placing run, placing second between Australia’s victor Arisa Trew and third place, Japan’s Kokona Hiraki.
Asserting her claim as a household name early, Sky handles the responsibility that comes with her fame with a surprising self-awareness and maturity for a 15-year-old. Talking with GQ she explained, “I do feel responsibility to keep inspiring girls, push boundaries and close the gender gap”, and has backed up her claim with a pair of X-Games gold medals, a win at the Dew Tour, and victory at the 2023 World Championships; also an exceptional surfer, Sky had hoped to earn a further place at the Games in that discipline, but narrowly missed out. When asked about her favourite of the two sports, she rather rationally compared them to some of her favourite foodstuffs: “you have too much ramen, you want some ice-cream”. Besides her on-board activity, Sky recently published her first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Skateboarding, a part-biographical, part-instructional read designed to encourage others to follow in her footsteps.
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Her unwavering determination to excel in all fields is truly inspirational, a trait recognised by her skate shoe sponsor, Nike SB. This year, the Swoosh rewarded Sky with a professional colourway of her favourite new Nike model, the Pogo Plus, retooled to represent her heritage. You can read more about that shoe here. Although she’s set on the footwear front, there’s some speculation as to what decks Sky will be riding in Paris, as she’s currently in board sponsor limbo. However, it’s likely that we’ll see her step onboard her guest model for legendary legacy brand and Sky’s favourite, Toy Machine.
Whatever her setup, Great Britain can rest assured that Brown will do everything she can to bring home the glory. Sky’s not the limit, she’s the gold standard.