11-Year-Old Skateboarder Aims for Tokyo Olympics
Sky Brown, an 11-year-old professional skateboarder, is hoping to become the youngest-ever British summer Olympian at Tokyo 2020.
Born to a British father and Japanese mother, Brown now lives in Miyazaki, Japan. She started skating when she was just four years old, and competing at age 7.
However, Brown, who is also a talented surfer, doesn't have a coach. She mostly learns new tricks with her father's help, or by watching YouTube videos. "If I see somebody do [a] trick, I'll be like, 'I wanna try that'," she told CBS News.
Online videos of Brown skating have been viewed more than 50 million times, and she has about half a million followers on Instagram. She is also one of the youngest athletes ever to be sponsored by Nike.
Brown says she is really excited to see skateboarding included in the Tokyo 2020 Games. "Everyone gets to see how cool skateboarding is. How fun it is. How creative you can be with it. I am super excited," she told Sky Sports News.
She is now training for the Olympic skateboarding qualifiers. "I have a lot of tricks I'm working on," Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Even if she doesn't win gold, Brown says she'll still be glad if she's able to take part in the event and "feel good to be the youngest there."
"I want to show girls it doesn't matter how old you are, you can do anything," Brown said.
