Originally appeared on E! Online
Not even a dislocated shoulder will break the spirit of this determined Olympian.
Team Great Britain skateboarder Sky Brown has been cleared by her medical team to compete in the 2024 Olympics’ skateboarding event on August 6 after dislocating her shoulder earlier this week.
“This one was really scary,” Brown told BBC Sport on August 1 about the injury, which she sustained just hours before departing for the Paris Games. “My dad put it in for me. When I get back, I’ll have to do surgery, so it doesn’t come out again.”
In the meantime, the 16-year-old will be relying on new gear to get her through the competition.
“They’re bringing some braces,” Brown shared. “I will try it out and have to be strapped for every time I skate.”
This perseverance is nothing new for the athlete: In May 2020, Brown sustained multiple injuries from a disastrous skateboarding accident — including fractures to her skull, lacerations to her lungs and stomach, a broken left arm and busted fingers on her right hand.
But that didn’t stop her from competing in the Tokyo Games the following year, during which she won bronze at the age of 13, making her the youngest Olympic medalist for Team Great Britain. In fact, Brown has been honestly candid about her recovery journey, even sharing a video of her actual fall on YouTube.
“We didn’t really want to show the accident–well, my dad didn’t. But even if you’re just walking you can fall,” Brown told The Guardian in 2020. “So I thought it was good to show that sometimes you fall. But I also wanted to show me getting up.”
Since then, Brown has only continued to inspire.
“My message would be what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” she said in her BBC Sport interview, jokingly added, “as cringey as it is.”
In addition to the Olympics, Brown competed in — and won — “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors in 2018.” The following year, she placed third at the World Skateboarding Championship and fifth at the X Games skateboarding event.
In July 2021, she won the X Games women’s skateboarding park gold medal.
U.S. skateboarders Nyjah Huston and Minna Stess are looking forward to showing off their skills at the 2024 Olympics.
