Tokyo Olympics: The sky is the limit for 13-year old bronze medal winner in skateboarding

Great Britain's Sky Brown flies high at her first Olympics.

She's a bundle of optimism and energy and she just won a bronze medal in skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics. The little girl with the cool name, Sky Brown, is only 13-years old and she's already a star.

The Tokyo Games is where skateboarding was first included as a sport.

Although representing Great Britain, where her father is from Sky was born in her mother's home country of Japan. Despite her dual citizenship, she qualifies to be called a Japanese American since she  lives most of the year in California's Oceanside, with easy access to surfing and skateparks, two of her favorite activities.

“I want to inspire girls and boys because I feel at the Olympics everyone is watching me,” she told the Evening Standard . “I want to be the little girl going the highest, and some girls thinking if she can do it I can do it too.”

Having just turned 13, she’s Britain’s youngest-ever Olympic athlete, she nearly died from an accident a year ago, and she already has a million Instagram followers, a published book, her own Barbie doll and a huge Nike sponsorship deal.

Sky is one of the athletes who benefited from the coronvirus-spurred year's delay of the Olympics. In June 2020, when Olympic teams would be picked for the summer's Games, she had an accident and nearly died, according to her parents.

In June 2020, Sky fell 15ft from a ramp in training, fracturing her skull, breaking her left arm and wrist and suffering lacerations to her heart and lungs. “Sky had the gnarliest fall she’s ever had and is lucky to be alive,” her father Stu said at the time. “Sky remains positive and strong. The whole medical team is shocked to see her positivity.”

On social media while recovering, Sky posted, rather jauntily, “it’s OK to fall sometimes.”

After winning skateboarding's bronze medal, Sky Brown wants to party with friends.

When she lives in Japan, she pals around with the Japanese skateboarders, some as young as she. She has invited them over to her home for a "sleepover," something little girls like to do.

On the medal's podium, the skateboarding whiz shared the podium with Japan's gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi, 19 and silver medalist Kokona Hiraki, who turns 13 later this month. Sky refers to the pair as "two of my favorite people."

"Skateboarding is one big family," she says. "We push each other and we have fun together, and I think skateboarding is just a friendly sport."

The future looks bright for the teenager. In Paris, she wants to compete in skateboarding and surfing.

Tokyo Olympics: AAPI skateboarder rolling and jumping towards the gold

Heimana Reynolds will compete in the "Park" category of Olympic skateboarding.

Heimana Reynolds, a native Hawaiian who was born and raised on the island of Oahu, embodies the island culture. Reynolds, indicative of the growing diversity within the youngest generation of Americans, is of mixed Tahitian, Hawaiian, Filipino and Chinese heritage.

“Growing up in Hawaii, my family never let us forget our roots,” Reynolds told NBC News.

Currently, Reynolds is the top-ranked U.S. skateboarder in the park discipline (which means he skates in bowls as opposed to the street category, which replicates real-world terrain).

The 2021 Summer Olympics is the first time that skateboarding will be featured as an Olympic sport. It will have two disciplines: park and street.

Street skateboarders use rails, stairs and other elements you might find skating around a city. Park skaters use skateparks with elements like bowls and ramps to launch themselves in the air and do tricks. 

He started skating at the young age of 6 and in a short period of time has gained the recognition of skate industry as one to watch in the park and bowl disciplines with his style, speed and tenacity.

2019 proved to be a stand out year for Heimana as he secured the 2019 Park World Championship title and dominated nearly every international skateboarding event. He started establishing a name for himself in 2007 by winning high level amateur events and in 2012, he again proved he was a competitive force by securing the 1st Place win at the Dew Tour Free Flow Tour Skateboard Am event – he has continued to grow his competitive repertoire ever since.

He hopes that the Olympic competition will give skateboarding some respect.

“For people who know nothing about the sport,” says Reynolds, “all they know is that skateboarder is vandalizing that rail on the street right there. That skateboarder, all he does is hang out and does nothing at the skate park. There are always going to be those people (who think that).”

“I wake up and I train. I work out. I practice. I’ve worked my butt off, so I would definitely consider myself an athlete,” says Reynolds, who beams with enthusiasm non-stop as he talks about skateboarding.

“Once skateboarding is established in the Olympics and as a real sport it’s going to open it up to all these parents and people who want to have their kids skating,” he enthusiastically explains. His family operate a skateboard park in Hawaii.

When not competing professionally, Reynolds teaches kids skateboarding and hosts camps at his family’s skatepark, Proper Ride Shop, in Honolulu as well as tries to give back to the community that has given so much opportunities to. him.

“Of course I’m skating for Team USA but I’m also skating for my island,” Reynolds says. “It makes me feel excited and happy that I have this island that is backing me. It’s super cool to think that I did come from this little island and now I’m going to the Olympics.”

Meet the members of the U.S. Olympic skateboarding team.

USA SKATEBOARDING / ANTHONY ACOSTA

The 12-member U.S.Olympic Skateboard Team includes: (L to R) Cory Juneau (Park), Zion Wright (Park), Nyjah Huston (Street), Mariah Duran (Street), Jake Ilardi (Street), Brighton Zeuner (Park), Jagger Eaton (Street), Alexis Sablone (Street), Heimana Reynolds (Park), Alana Smith (Street), Bryce Wettstein (Park), Jordyn Barratt (Park)