Sky Brown: who is world champion skateboarder - age, parents and when was Team GB star in an accident?

Sky Brown was crowned world champion at the Skateboarding World Championships at the age of just 14 on Sunday 12 February 2023. Brown won gold in park skateboarding and is now Great Britain’s first ever skateboarding world champion after she scored 90.83 from her three runs at the event in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Brown finished four points head of Japan’s Kokona Hiraki while Olympic champion and compatriot Sakura Yosozumi took bronze. Speaking after her win, Brown said: “Being on the podium with these guys again is so crazy. It’s just been really fun. I was trying to enjoy it as much as I could. Landing all three of my runs was an amazing feeling.”

The 14-year-old from Miyazaki previously finised with a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Brazil.

Here’s all you need to know about the British world champion Sky Brown..

How old is Sky Brown?

Brown, who was part of Team GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is just 14-years-old. She was Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist when she took home bronze at the Games, at the age of 13. Skateboarding had been one of the four new sports added to the Olympics, with events held in both ‘park’ and ‘street’ categories and Brown took the bronze medal home in the ‘park’ category.

Where is Sky Brown from?

Sky Brown was born to an English father and Japanese mother. She currently lives in California and her home of Miyazaki, which is located on Japan’s southernmost major island, Kyushu.

After being introduced to the sport by her Dad, who had competed as an amateur, Brown turned professional at the age of 10 and is currently Nike’s youngest sponsored athlete. She began learning tricks from YouTube and initially competed for Japan, before committing to Great Britain.

In the run-up to the Games, Brown said that she hoped to provide inspiration to young female skateboarders and encourage more young women to take up the sport.

Speaking after her Team GB selection she said: “If you go to the skatepark it’s mostly boys there. Now there’s more and more girls there, which is cool, but it’s usually mostly boys. And I feel like sometimes girls are scared to be the only girl and they’re scared to be judged by the boys.

“But I feel like watching the Olympics, seeing how many girls are doing the sport and how good [they are], they’re gonna really want to [try it], which I’m really happy about.”

Has Sky Brown been in an accident?

Ahead of her Tokyo success, Sky revealed how she had been rushed to hospital after plunging 15 ft from a ramp in training, which reportedly left her with skull fractures. In a heavily-produced YouTube video, Sky shows the moments before she plummets the 15ft, before cutting to shorts of ambulances, helicopters and fire engines.

At the time, her Dad Stu spoke to BBC Sport saying: “Sky had the gnarliest fall she’s ever had and is lucky to be alive. Sky remains positive and strong. The whole medical team is shocked to see her positivity.”