Photo/Illutration Sky Brown of Britain during a round in the skateboarding park final at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on Aug. 4. (Reina Kitamura)

Thirteen-year-old Sky Brown became Britain’s youngest athlete to win an Olympic medal on Aug. 4, capturing a bronze in the skateboarding park final in the Tokyo Games.

“It's unbelievable,” she said. “It was like a dream.”

Falling in her first and second runs at the Ariake Urban Sports Park, she was in fourth place before her final run.

But she completed her last 45-second run by successfully executing tricks requiring a high skill level.

When she finished, other competitors rushed to her to celebrate her brilliant performance.

Sky said she went into the third run feeling a lot better, after Sakura Yosozumi of Japan, who won the gold medal in the event, assured her that she could succeed this time.

“She told me, 'You got it, Sky. We know you're gonna make it'. That really made me feel better," she said.

Sky was born to a British father and Japanese mother and grew up in Japan.

She learned how to do skateboard tricks through videos on YouTube.

When she had a chance to enter skateboarding for the Tokyo Games, she could choose to represent either Britain or Japan.

After discussing the matter with her parents, she picked Britain because she felt she would face less pressure, as officials assured her that she could pull out if she changed her mind.

The choice made her Britain’s youngest athlete to compete in the Summer Games. Despite being so young, she is already a global celebrity, known also as a professional surfer.

Her YouTube channel with her brother, Ocean, boasts more than 280,000 subscribers from around the world.

She is sponsored by Nike and other large companies.

Sky is determined to jump as high as male skateboarders and execute tricks as difficult as they do to challenge the notion that there is a limit to what female athletes can do.

Sky was severely injured during practice in May last year. She lost her balance in midair, about 4 meters from the ground, and fell, ending up with multiple fractures in her skull, left hand and wrist, and lacerations to her lungs and stomach.

Still, she was not terrified by the experience. Sky even released the very video that captured the fall online to underscore her message that even if you suffer a big fall, you can still pick yourself up and try again.

Sky’s passion is not limited to skateboarding and surfing. She is also adept at dancing and singing. She also somehow manages to find time to practice the guitar.

“I think it is important not to do one thing,” she said. “Life is too short, you got to do all different kind of things.”

Her next goal? She wants to compete in both skateboarding and surfing for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

(This story was written by Hiroki Tohda and Chiaki Ogiwara.)

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