Sky Brown's life in Japan and family background as she becomes Britain's 14-year-old skateboarding world champ

Sky Brown is already known as one of the youngest professional skateboarders in the world and has now added world champion. She is the first person representing Britain to win gold for skateboarding, and she's only 14 years old.

Brown, who became Great Britain's youngest Olympic medal winner of all time when she won park bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Games, has won gold in the World Championships in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday (12 February).

"When I skate I just feel free, like I can do anything," said Sky in 2011, at the age of just 11 years old. "And if people see me, the smallest girl, doing the highest trick, then anyone could think they could do anything."

Incredible perspective from someone this young. We take a look at her life so far and why her family have played a huge role in her success.

Sky's career

It sounds unbelievable, but Brown does not have a skateboarding coach; instead she learns tricks from YouTube. She sometimes practices with Shaun White, who won Olympic snowboarding medals.

Brown is sponsored by Nike, making her the youngest Nike-sponsored athlete in the world, and has featured in a Nike campaign alongside Serena Williams and Simone Biles. She is also supported by Almost Skateboards and Skateistan.

In 2016, at the age of 8, Brown took part in the Vans US Open, making her the youngest person ever to compete at the event. She fell off her skateboard in a heat. In 2017, she came second in the Asian Continental Finals, and she finished in the top 10 of the 2018 Vans Park Series.

Brown became a professional athlete in 2018, at the age of 10, making her the youngest professional skateboarder in the world.

In March 2019, Brown announced that she would be competing for Great Britain, having previously said that she would compete for Japan. Brown said that she favoured the 'more relaxed approach' of the British Skateboarding Association. Her father, Stuart, is British.

That year, Brown also came third at the World Skateboarding Championship, and became the first female to land a frontside 540 at the X Games. She finished fifth at the X Games skateboarding event. Brown came third at the 2020 Park World Skateboarding Championships in Brazil.

Brown was one of five Britons attempting to qualify for the skateboarding events at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the first time the sport was included in the Games. While training in California in 2020, she suffered a 'horrific' fall from a halfpipe ramp which left her with several skull fractures and a broken left wrist and hand. She was flown to a hospital and was reported as being unresponsive on arrival. Her father said afterwards that she was "lucky to be alive", whilst Brown herself said it was her worst fall yet.

Despite the long recovery from those injuries, Sky won the bronze at the 2020 delayed Summer Olympics. In July 2021, she won the X Games women's skateboarding park gold medal.

Brown won the park event at the 2023 World Skateboarding Championship, cementing her place in history.

How Sky's family have helped

A huge part of Sky's determination and enjoyment when she competes comes from her family's attitude towards the sports she loves.

Sky Brown was born in Miyazaki, Japan. Her mother, Mieko, is Japanese and her father, Stuart, is British. She has a younger brother called Ocean. She was originally going to compete for Japan, but changed her mind due to Britain's more relaxed approach to competition.

Brown comes from a family of skateboarders as both her parents enjoy the sport. They even have a skateboard ramp in the family's back garden which allows Sky to practise as much as possible.

Despite the encouraging home environment, Sky had to convince her parents to allow her to compete for Team GB in 2021, as she'd experienced the horrifying injuries in 2020. "My parents thought it would be too much pressure, so we weren’t going to do it," Brown said in 2021 when discussing her training with The Guardian.

She explained, "But Team GB said, ‘Come be on our team, there’s no pressure, just get out there and have fun.' That made my parents feel a little better. But I begged and begged... ”

Her parents are not pushing her for world domination. They give her lots of support but the main motivation is coming from Sky. Stuart, who works in marketing and skates as a hobby, says he figured that, "If it didn’t go well, we could quit at any time". A balanced approach to his daughter's success.

It's not just skateboarding, either. Sky is very strong at surfing and combines her training to feature both sports.