The 30th edition of the modern Summer Olympics is just around the corner, and while the majority of events at Paris 2024 would be recognisable(ish) to athletes past, a raft of extreme sports have joined the fun over the last decade. Team GB is never one to miss the party, with its young stars going for gold in events like skateboarding, BMX freestyle and lead climbing, lifting fans from sport's alternative wing and landing them on the world stage. The gold is still as bright and the crowds are just as loud, but one thing's for sure: this isn't your dad's Olympiad.
Sky Brown Age: 16 Hometown: Los Angeles Key Event: Women’s park skateboarding To see Sky Brown on a skateboard is to witness nature being bent to her will. As she flies out of a bowl at Baysixty6, a west London skate park, the 15-year-old reached behind to grasp the board between her legs for a clean melon grab – and then she does it again. As she rolls back to her starting position on the bowl’s rim, she turns to her dad, Stuart.
“I want to go higher,” she says, a megawatt smile on her face. Brown was 13 when she competed at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, breaking a record held since 1928 to become the youngest athlete to represent Great Britain. She remembers her bronze medal-winning run with total clarity, recalling the kickflip indy grab she failed to land on her first two attempts.
“I fell on my trick twice,” she says. “That never really happened to me before. I landed it pretty good .