Sky Brown ‘proud’ despite failing in bid to compete in surfing at Olympics
Sky Brown has failed in her ambitious quest to become the first Briton in more than a century to compete in two different sports at the same summer Olympics after failing to qualify in surfing.
The 15-year-old has been competing in the World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico but was eliminated from her repechage heat and cannot now accumulate sufficient ranking points to qualify for an event that will take place this summer almost 10,000 miles away from hosts Paris in Tahiti.
The logistics of combining surfing with her primary Olympic sport of skateboarding, which is being staged later in the Games in Paris, would have been hugely challenging but Brown had regarded it as a realistic target and is now targeting the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“I enjoyed every moment,” she said, following her elimination. “It was pretty tough, but I’ve learned so much. I will keep it with me forever. I’m definitely super proud. I made it quite far. I wish I could have done it in Paris, but LA is my home. Bring it on in LA.”
Brown, who lives and regularly surfs in California and has a Japanese mother and British father, is virtually guaranteed her place in skateboarding. She won the 2023 world skateboarding title, an Olympic bronze aged 13 in 2021, and is currently ranked third in the world.
The world’s top 20 in June will all qualify for an event that made its Olympic debut in Tokyo and will take place in Paris this summer at the Place de la Concorde.
Brown became Great Britain’s youngest-ever Olympic medallist three years ago and can now again focus on skateboarding in the remaining five months before the Olympics. She has been getting up at 5am every morning to fit in training for both sports alongside her schooling.
