DES MOINES, Iowa -- She was introduced as "Sky 'High' Brown."
And during Sky Brown's four runs of the skateboarding meet, she lived up to her nickname with a dynamic performance that saw her soar high into the air and seemingly hang there forever.
Back on Earth, Brown has turned heads as a 12-year-old phenom vying for place on Britain's team to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, to be held in the country where she also has roots.
Brown, whose father is British and mother is Japanese, put herself into position to make the Olympic squad when she placed second in the women's Park final at the Dew Tour meet, one of the final competitions serving as an Olympic qualifier that was held May 20-23, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Brown shared the podium with two Japanese, as Sakura Yosozumi won the gold medal and Misugu Okamoto took the bronze.
Born in Miyazaki Prefecture, Brown splits her time between Japan and the United States, but currently lives and competes in the latter due to the pandemic. She is naturally excited by the prospect of appearing in an Olympics in Japan.
"I'm glad as I was born and live in Japan. It will be a really fun experience," she said.
While her main rivals are Japanese and close in age, Brown said she is friends with them and enjoyed the competition. She noted that Yosozumi and Okamoto have upped their games from before the pandemic.
Brown is currently third in the world rankings, with Okamoto on top and Yosozumi at No. 2. But there is very little that differentiates the trio, making for an intriguing battle to win the gold when skateboarding makes its debut in Tokyo.
The third place on the Japan squad was also all but decided in Des Moines, to be filled by Kokona Hiraki -- like Brown, just 12 years old.
Hiraki finished fifth in the competition, making her the third-highest ranked Japanese and putting her into position to be named to the Olympic team. It will be made official when the final world rankings are released.
"I want to be the first to do a trick that no one else has ever done and to get onto the medal podium," Hiraki said of competing in the Olympics.
Hiraki will be 12 years 10 months on the day the Olympics open on July 23, which would make her the youngest Japanese to ever appear at a Summer Games. Swimmer Yukari Takemoto was 13 when she competed at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
The youngest ever was Etsuko Inada, a figure skater who turned 12 two days after the start of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics.
Hiraki is a first-year junior high schooler from the town of Kutchan, Hokkaido. She started skateboarding at age 5.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
