British prodigy Sky Brown wins gold in park skateboarding at World Championships
By Aimee Lewis, CNN
British prodigy Sky Brown produced a sensational performance at the Skateboarding World Championships Sunday to win her first world title in park skateboarding.
The 14-year-old, Britain’s youngest Olympic medal winner, now becomes Britain’s first skateboarding world champion, adding world gold to the bronze medals she won at the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Olympics.
Her second run at Sharjah’s Aljada Skate Park in the United Arab Emirates featured a Kickflip Indy and ended with a frontside 540, scoring her 89.63 — a mark she bettered during her third run when she scored 90.83, when victory had already been confirmed.
Olympic silver medalist Kokona Hiraki was second with 86.66, while Olympic champion Sakura Yosozumi — who fell in her second run — came third, scoring 85.15.
“Being on the podium with these guys again is so crazy. There’s new girls ripping it and it’s really inspiring. I’m really stoked,” Brown said afterwards, per Olympics.com
“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. I didn’t really know until the end because all the girls are crazy right now.”
Under her father’s supervision, Brown took up the sport when she was three, learning tricks on YouTube and eventually enrolling in Great Britain’s skateboarding program.
In May 2020, she suffered a life-threatening injury when she fell 15 feet while training, landing on hard ground and sustaining a fractured skull, broken left wrist and hand, and lacerations to her lungs and stomach.
The Championships also offers ranking points for Olympic qualification. With her gold, Brown also takes maximum points towards qualification for next year’s Olympics in Paris.
The best-placed American was Bryce Wettstein, who finished fifth with 84.40 points.
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