Over a breathless hour yesterday morning Team GB's 15-year-old skateboarding star, Sky Brown, lit up the London skyline with her dazzling tricks - all from a floating half-pipe on the River Thames overlooking Tower Bridge.
Commuters gawped. Schoolkids pointed. And while a drone buzzed around her, capturing all her handplants, aerials and trademark Japan Air trick for a new Tag Heuer campaign, she never missed a beat.
It was the same afterwards when talk turned to the pressure Brown was facing before the Paris Olympics, and she shrugged her shoulders and displayed maturity beyond her years. "I don't feel pressure, honestly, having done it in Tokyo already," she says. "It just makes me want to show my new tricks even more. It's just exciting for me. Skating is really not about the medals. It's about the show you put on for everyone. I always just want to show my best, and the beautiful part of skateboarding."
She looks stronger than she did three years ago - when, aged 13 years and 28 days, she made Olympic history with a bronze medal in the park event. She feels it, too. "I have definitely grown up a little bit. I haven't got that much taller, but I definitely feel like my skateboarding has become stronger. I'm growing as a person and it's really cool."
This story is from the March 27, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the March 27, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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