Sky Brown on skating to the Olympics with her mates by her side

Imagine, if your brain can stretch reality far enough, the following scene: you’re 16 years old, already six years into your professional skateboarding career and world champion in your field. You’re mates with Tony Hawk and won your first bronze Olympic medal at just 13. Over the years, you’ve cracked your skull, torn your knee and, at one point, fallen so hard you were told you’re ​“lucky to be alive”. You push through it all and qualify for your second Olympics in Paris. Then, the day before you set off for the French capital, you dislocate your shoulder.

Such is the story of Sky Brown, Team GB’s 16-year-old skateboarding prodigy, who last week took home another bronze medal during the women’s park final. ​“I knew I had to play it safe. I couldn’t do the tricks I was planning on doing and saving for this event,” she says, reflecting on her Olympics journey a few days after the final. ​“But being able to skate with an injury and still get on the podium… I was very happy.”

Skating in front of a packed crowd whose cheers multiplied pretty much every time Sky approached the bowl helped – even when she fell on her injured shoulder during the first run. ​“At that point, I was like, ​‘I’m here with an injury, so I have nothing to lose, but so much to gain. Just do what you love and skate for the crowd, put on a good show,’” she says. Charged up by the crowd and a jungle remix of Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam, Sky re-entered the bowl and kickflipped her way to second place on the leaderboard during her second run. ​“When I saw [I had a chance of being] on the podium, I got very hyped up. And, you know, the crowd was there, the adrenaline was going. That helped a lot with the feeling of the pain.”

In the end, Sky was bumped from second place when Australia’s 14-year-old Arisa Trew shot to the top of the leaderboard with a gold medal-winning final run. But watching the finalists soak up the Olympic glory in the Parisian sun, it was clear that the skaters weren’t only there to get medals. They were there to cheer on their friends, celebrate each other’s wins, pick each other back up when they fell and bring the community-first spirit of skateboarding to the world stage. The young girls in the crowd, all cheering them on, no doubt inspired by their camaraderie to head to a skatepark themselves, only added to the heartening show of sisterhood.

“Every competition is so fun, because you make so many good memories with your friends,” says Sky. As a Nike athlete (who, in 2019, became the youngest person to ever be sponsored by the sportswear giant, by the way), her ethos mirrors the brand’s commitment to amplifying unconventional athletes, people who approach sport with a different perspective, even when they’re performing it to the highest level. It’s cool to go to the Olympics, sure, but it’s even better when you get to do it with mates from over the world, who you only met in the first place thanks to your shared passion.

“We support each other. We want everyone to do the best they can do,” continues Sky, exemplifying an attitude that’s familiar to skateparks around the world, and encouraged so many kids to get on a board over the decades. ​“It’s so fun that we get to travel the world together and go on this awesome journey that not many people get to experience.”

Is Sky not even a little bit gutted she didn’t bag a gold medal this time? Not a chance. ​“Every moment here I’ve been enjoying with my friends,” she says defiantly. ​“I mean, I’m in Paris! I’m at the Olympics! It’s very special.”