Sky Brown dislocates shoulder days before Olympic skateboarding event

16-year-old skateboarding sensation faces race against time to realise dream of becoming Britain’s youngest ever Olympic champion

Sky Brown’s Olympic preparations appeared to have suffered a major blow after Britain’s skateboarding star dislocated her shoulder before travelling to the Paris Games.
It is understood the 16-year-old is facing a race against time to compete in the women’s skateboarding park event at La Concorde, which gets underway on August 6.
Brown, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, still intends to compete in the event, where she is aiming to become Britain’s youngest ever Olympic champion. 
Brown confirmed the injury by adding a BBC post about the dislocation to her Instagram story. The broadcaster described Brown’s injury as a “full dislocation” and said she was being looked after by Team GB doctors and physios in Paris.
BBC reporter Natalie Pirks posted on Twitter, formerly X, writing: “Team GB’s Tokyo Bronze medallist, Sky Brown, dislocated her shoulder on Sunday before flying out to Paris. She’s been looked after by team medics and is desperate to still compete in the women’s Park skateboarding on the 6th.”
Team GB has been approached for comment.
Brown’s preparations for the Games had already been far from smooth after she suffered a serious knee injury in April which forced her to miss the Olympic Qualifier Series event in Shanghai.
As the reigning world champion in park skateboarding, the Japan-born athlete is a hot favourite to upgrade the bronze she won in Tokyo and is bidding to make history as Britain’s youngest ever Olympic champion in Paris.
She became Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist when she finished third in the women’s skateboarding park competition when the sport made its debut in Tokyo, aged 13 years and 28 days.
The teen skateboarding sensation has a track record of bouncing back from serious injuries in a high-adrenaline sport where athletes put their bodies on the line when performing flips and tricks.
In 2020, she suffered a horror accident in training that led to her being airlifted to hospital with fractures to her skull, wrist and hand as well as lacerations to her heart and lungs.
Brown said she was “lucky to be alive” and that her helmet and arm “saved my life” after posting extraordinary footage of the moments leading up to the accident on YouTube. Brown’s father, Stu, later confirmed she had landed head first onto concrete after falling from 15ft.
Brown was hoping to represent Team GB in both skateboarding and surfing at this summer’s Games in Paris but failed in her qualification attempt in the latter.
The fearless teenager told Telegraph Sport earlier this year: “I have a motto since I was young: ‘Be brave, be strong, have fun, do it because you love it and don’t let anyone stop you’. It tells my story, too, and there’s definitely a message in there.”