Eighty skateboarders have officially qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics [1], and two names you'll want to watch out for are Sky Brown [2] and Kokona Hiraki. Representing Great Britain and Japan, respectively, these skaters are ranked third and sixth in the world in the park discipline, which means they have a real shot of getting on the podium. Even more impressive? They're both just 12 years old. If either Brown or Hiraki do earn a medal, they'll be the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936.
Hiraki will make history as Japan's youngest Olympian on record [3]. Brown dreamed of doing the same [4] for Great Britain, but the Games' postponement [5] took her one year past the youngest British Olympian, 1932 figure skater Cecilia Colledge. Brown still has a chance to be the youngest British athlete to compete in the Summer Olympics, once the she's officially selected by the British Olympic team.
With skateboarding making its debut [7] at the Olympics this year, Brown and Hiraki are just two of the many talented athletes we're excited to watch. Park skateboarding, their discipline, features high-flying tricks and big air performed in a bowl; street skateboarding is all about executing fast and intricate moves on a "street-like" course with stairs, handrails, curbs, and slopes. We won't missing a moment of either one this July.
To learn more about all the Olympic hopefuls, visit TeamGB.com [8]. The Tokyo Olympics begin 23 July on BBC One and BBC Two.
