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Sky Brown goes for gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics today as she bids to add to her bronze won in Tokyo.
Brown was Team GB’s youngest summer Games medallist, when she achieved that feat in Japan three years ago aged 13.
She has had a rocky past few months with injuries after sustaining an MCL tear in her knee, while she narrowly failed to qualify for surfing ahead of these Games.
Now the 16-year-old is back and ready to compete in the skateboarding park event again – despite suffering a dislocated shoulder just before the Games began. She will have an operation when she returns home after the Olympics, but is prepared to push through the pain in Paris first.
“Every injury I’ve had, I’ve come back stronger,” Brown said recently. “So this is just my time to really think about what I want to do next. It really puts a fire in my heart – it happens, it is part of life.”
Brown is part of a three-strong GB team that also includes fellow teenager Lola Tambling and 50-year-old Andy Macdonald.
When is Sky Brown competing?
Brown will first take part in qualifying, which begins at 11.30am BST. She goes in heat three, which is scheduled for around 1.15pm BST.
The top eight of the 22 skaters taking part will qualify for the final, which begins at 4.30pm.
What is skateboarding park?
The park competition takes place on a varied course combining bowls and numerous bends, which the athletes use to gather speed and perform tricks mid-air.
The skateboarders are judged by the height and speed of the tricks they carry out during jumps, as well as their capacity to use the entire surface and all obstacles. They perform three 45‑second runs, with the best of three counting as their final round score.
Street events take place on a straight ‘street-like’ course with stairs, handrails, etc. set up to resemble the urban environments where skateboarding started out.
Athletes perform a range of tricks and are also judged on how they control their board during the two 45‑second runs and five tricks they carry out.
