Sky Brown battled to a brave bronze in Tuesday’s skateboarding park final, then immediately set her sights on becoming a two-sport Olympian in Los Angeles in four years’ time.
Brown overcame a heavy qualifying fall on the shoulder she had dislocated less than a fortnight ago to make the podium for the second time, becoming the youngest Team GB athlete to win medals at multiple Olympic Games.
The 16-year-old, who will now undergo surgery on her shoulder, also attempted to qualify for the surfing at the 2024 Olympics, competing at the World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico in March.
Doing so may have been a logistical impossibility in any case, given the women’s medals were only awarded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, almost 10,000 miles away from Paris, in Tahiti.
That, though, is unlikely to be an issue in LA and Brown, who spends much of her time in California, is desperate to be in action on two boards.
“I am a double Olympic medallist,” she said. “It’s really cool and I’m very happy. When I go to LA, I’m hoping to be a double Olympian there in surfing and skating. Every time I lose, I learn, and I learn a lot every day and I can bring that to LA.”
There are, however, other tasks for the teenager to tick off before then.
“I have some school work to do,” she added. “I can get my driver’s licence in America. I miss surfing right now, so I’m hoping to get into the water straight away. And I need to get a shoulder surgery, but hopefully that won’t take too long.”
Brown’s participation in the final had at one stage looked in doubt, with the youngster in obvious discomfort when leaving the course at the end of qualifying. Afterwards, her father, Stewart, revealed she had effectively dislocated her shoulder again.
“It came out and popped back in,” he said. “She didn’t even tell [the medical staff] it came out, because she was afraid they would pull her out. I ran down to her and she said, ‘Daddy, it’s come out’. Then, as we were getting up, she said, ‘Oh, I think it’s gone back in’.”
Remarkably, Brown was the oldest member of a podium that was headed by 14-year-old Australian Arisa Trew, with 15-year-old Japanese Cocona Hiraki taking silver.
The contrast on Wednesday afternoon, then, will be stark, when 51-year-old Andy MacDonald, a multiple X Games gold medalist, makes his Olympic debut.
“Honestly, I don’t understand half of the tricks he does,” Brown said of her team-mate. “I definitely need some tips from him.”
