Sky Brown - Britain's youngest Olympian (13)

[FlyPassed]

Wow! Well done and best of luck, Sky! What an inspiration.

'But the main group Brown is hoping to win over is other young girls who may think the sport is not for them. “If you go to the skatepark it’s mostly boys there. Now there’s more and more girls there, which is cool, but it’s usually mostly boys. And I feel like sometimes girls are scared to be the only girl and they’re scared to be judged by the boys.

“But I feel like watching the Olympics, seeing how many girls are doing the sport and how good [they are], they’re gonna really want to [try it], which I’m really happy about.”'

www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/01/skateboarder-sky-brown-to-become-youngest-british-summer-olympian

@TinselAngel

I don't really understand how you can be a professional anything aged 10.

Sponsorship for one. She is clearly sponsored by Nike in many of her videos. Including the one posted upthread which featured numerous lingering shots on the 'ticks' on her clothing shoes. A google will show she's also sponsored by Hurley, Grizzly Grip, Tensor Trucks, Lost Surfboards. She'd have gotten really good appearance fees for DWtS. She would be winning decent prize money at some of the competitions she wins. And she'd get a lot of appearance fees for various promotional events she attends. You can see here that her management charge a $15-25k fee for her to attend an event in the US, during her selected dates for US appearances.

www.celebritytalent.net/sampletalent/17925/sky-brown/

This is the video that made me really uncomfortable.

2 months after that horrific fall, 10 months out from the Olympics, why would you even consider this skating a “mega ramp” stunt? There is no need, it’s not required for competition.

For me it demonstrates the irresponsibility of the adults involved. They are there cheering her on and telling her she can do it when she’s clearly scared. This is a child who isn’t competent to make risk assessments- she is trusting these adults who are invested in the publicity and money making.

I think she's too young. It's great that she's into sports (although I wasn't aware that skateboarding was an Olympic sport) and she should absolutely be encouraged, but the Olympics is a huge amount of pressure for an adult professional athlete, let alone a child who hasn't developed the emotional resilience to be able to cope with that pressure. There are surely plenty of competitions for teenagers which she could attend. As a parent, there's no way I'd let her compete against adults. 16 minimum, and preferably 18.

The Olympics other than a few sports (boxing?) is all pros. She is competing against pros, for all intents and purposes, she is a pro. You might say it is just a sport for her and just some fun, but she will already be earning sponsorship money. I don't see much of a difference between her and 16 year olds playing top level football, there you could also just say "well they're just having fun".

I don't see much of a difference between her and 16 year olds playing top level football,
The difference is they are 16 year old young men, and she is a thirteen year old female child.

For those asking, the IOC added baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing to the Tokyo Olympic events.

Skateboarding is also provisionally approved for Paris 24.

@TinselAngel

I don't see much of a difference between her and 16 year olds playing top level football, The difference is they are 16 year old young men, and she is a thirteen year old female child.

They are not young men, they are boys. Would you call 16 year old girls young women?

They are not young men, they are boys. Would you call 16 year old girls young women?

There’s still a huge difference in competency between a 16 year old boy and a 13 year old girl though.

@Reallyreallyborednow

They are not young men, they are boys. Would you call 16 year old girls young women?

There’s still a huge difference in competency between a 16 year old boy and a 13 year old girl though.

So puberty blockers with 16 but not 13?

But that is digressing from my point, which was that yes, even 16 was a bit controversial, so surely 13 should be very controversial.

(i.e. I actually agree, the issue just seems to be that I said I don't see /much/ difference between 13 and 16, and I don't, to me they are both still kids. Also, plenty of old footballers spoke out about how they failed massively starting at 18 even, the pressure, the expectations is just huge, and they couldn't cope and didn't get enough support).

I'm not sure how puberty blockers come into this conversation about an Olympic skateboarder?