BROWN Sky

General
LIFE THREATENING FALL
In May 2020 she suffered a life-threatening injury when she fell 15 feet while training on a vert ramp belonging to Tony Hawk. She had attempted to clear a channel gap between two sections of the ramp and fell to hard ground. She posted video of the fall on Instagram, and said her helmet saved her life. "I like to skate at Tony Hawk's place. He has a 14-foot ramp and I did this trick which is a front side alley oop, but when you do it you can't really see where you're going. So when I come down the ramp I'm facing the other way and I realised I was going off the edge. But it was really quick and I was knocked out. It was definitely hard for them [my parents]. They both wanted me to stop. They were like, 'Are you sure you want to skate again?' They absolutely didn't want me to - but that's why I love them. They support me because they know I want to keep going. I don't usually post my falls, or talk about them, because I want people to see the fun in what I do, but this was my worst fall. It's okay to fall sometimes and I'm just going to get back up and push even harder." (bbc.co.uk, 09 Jun 2021; bbc.co.uk, 23 May 2021; theguardian.com, 03 Aug 2020)

REPRESENTING GREAT BRITAIN
She was born to an English father and Japanese mother, and opted to represent Great Britain. "My other option was to represent Japan [but] Great Britain's style was much more like mine. I skate and surf for fun, and they really understood that. Any pressure I have comes from myself, not from a country or anyone else. I am so excited for the Olympics and even more excited that it's being held in Japan since I am from there and a lot of my friends and family live there. I want to be the youngest gold medallist." Her father and coach, Jon, said that Great Britain was understanding of her needs as a child. "We chose Great Britain because we felt that there was no pressure and they didn't ask us to commit. They made it very clear that if she wasn't happy or wasn't feeling good at any time we could pull out. That was huge for us." (eurosport.co.uk, 05 May 2021; skysports.com, 09 Jun 2021; theguardian.com, 11 Dec 2019; latimes.com, 28 Apr 2020; thetimes.co.uk, 03 May 2021)

SURFING AND SKATEBOARDING
She goes surfing most mornings with her father and brother. As well as being part of Great Britain's skateboarding programme, in April 2021 she was named in Surfing England's under 16 junior squad. "I like them both the same, they're super similar. But it's like if you go and get ramen and ice cream - if you eat too much ramen you want to go and get ice cream. I used to be better at surfing but I've been skating a lot lately and I've gotten way better from doing contests. It's made me want to go harder. It's pretty similar. It moves and goes fast like a skateboard and does tricks like a skateboard. So, I feel like surfing helps with skateboarding a lot." (theguardian.com, 03 Aug 2020; theguardian.com, 11 Dec 2019; Jordan Matter YouTube channel, 24 Oct 2019; reuters.com, 01 Apr 2021; bbc.co.uk, 16 May 2019; surfingengland.org, 01 Mar 2021)

ROLE MODEL
In 2020 she was unveiled as a Barbie Role Model, with the toy maker Mattel creating a Barbie figurine in her likeness. "I'm going to push boundaries for girls with my skating and surfing. Having a Barbie created in my likeness is one of the most incredible things that's ever happened to me. It's been really important for me [being a role model] ever since I was little. I would be always be the only girl at the skate park or in the ocean. I always think that girls are sometimes scared to do what they want to do. Girls sometimes think, 'He can do it because he is a boy, and I can't do it because I'm a girl'. It's my dream to change that. I want it to be, 'I'm a girl so I CAN do it'. Yeah, I do like having a responsibility. It makes me want to be a better person." (toynews-online.biz, 02 Dec 2020; latimes.com, 28 Apr 2020; thetimes.co.uk, 03 May 2020)

At the 2019 X Games in Minneapolis, MN, United States of America, she became the first female skateboarder to land a frontside 540 at the X Games. (X Games, 03 Aug 2019)