Tokyo 2020: 13-year-old Sky Brown wins Olympic skateboarding bronze

Sky Brown has become GB’s youngest Olympic medallist of all time after winning bronze in the women’s park skateboarding event.

She produced a composed final run to finish third in the event with a score of 56.47, recovering from mistakes in the first two of her three runs to win the medal.

Brown’s win is Britain’s first-ever Olympic skateboarding medal.

Japanese boarders took the other two medals – Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki won gold and silver with scores of 60.09 and 59.04 respectively.

In the final run, Brown was in fourth place, but she showed great maturity to land a kickflip indy – the trick that caused her to fall in the first two attempts – and post the score that moved her into third.

The bronze medal wasn’t guaranteed, and favourite Misugu Okamoto took to her board. However, once she fell on her final run, it was all over. Yet, in a display of the remarkable solidarity in this event, the other finalists rushed to support her after cheering each other on.

After the event, Brown said: “It was a super sick final. All the girls were ripping it, it was insane. This is incredible – it feels unreal! I’m so happy to be here – I’m blessed. I was definitely bumped. I fell twice, that made the last run feel even better.”

In 2019, Brown finished third at the World Skateboarding Championship, and the following year she effectively secured her Olympic qualification by winning a bronze medal at the Park World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Last month, she warmed up for the Games by winning gold in the prestigious X Games, although neither of her key Olympic challengers, Okamoto and Hiraki, were present.