Meet the skateboard teenage prodigies ready create history in the park at Tokyo 2020

Park skateboarding will introduce itself to the Olympic stage on Wednesday (August 4).

The street discipline has already made headlines for the amount of young stars taking the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by storm in 2021, and park is ready to follow suit.

Fans will be in for a treat, as the top four ranked female park skateboarders in the world will be on show: Sky Brown, OKAMOTO Misugu, Poppy Starr Olsen. and YOSOZUMI Sakura.

Here's a few things to know about the four phenoms who have already etched their names into skating history just by qualifying for the Games.

Sky Brown - Great Britain

Sky Brown is history in the making for Team GB.

She turned 13 on 7th July, and when park skateboarding begins, will become the youngest athlete ever to represent Great Britain at a summer Olympics.

Brown had the option of which country she wanted to represent, thanks to her dual nationality with a Japanese mother, Mieko, and British father, Stu.

She would eventually make the decision to represent her father’s homeland, feeling there would be less pressure going into the Games.

To qualify for an Olympic Games is a significant achievement alone, but for Brown its particularly extraordinary.

Just a year before the games, the skateboard prodigy suffered a life-threatening fall that left her with skull fractures, a broken arm, broken fingers, and lacerations to her heart and lungs.

Ranked no.3 in the world, Brown will fancy her chances at medalling in Tokyo, especially on the back of a National Championships title last month and recent X Games victory.

You can read more about Sky Brown and her story here.

OKAMOTO Misugu - Japan

OKAMOTO Misugu is 15 years old and already ranked no.1 in the world.

The Japanese phenom has picked up a habit of making history across her short yet rich career so far.

At the Dew Tour in 2019, she stunned fans by executing a backside 540 when she was just 12 years old, becoming the only female skater to land it in an international competition.

And in November of the same year, she landed a kickflip Indy – a first in women’s competitions.

Her dedication to her craft undeniable, moving away from home in 2018 to be mentored by one of her skateboard heroes, SASAOKA Kento, for fear that she would not be able to develop her skills to their full potential if she stayed in Takahama.

OKAMOTO’s dominance has been prominent since she burst onto the scene, and she’ll be one of the favourites to medal at the Games.

You can read more about OKAMOTO Misugu and her story here.

Poppy Starr Olsen - Australia

Poppy Starr Olsen has been a pioneer for female skateboarders in Australia ever since she came onto the scene as a fearless eight-year-old.

Growing up, she was the only girl on the skate park, but remained unfazed as she fell more and more in love with the sport.

She was a World Champion for her age group when she was 14, and then again at 15, as well as becoming the first Australian female to compete in the Summer X Games in 2016.

Olsen almost didn't make it to Tokyo after cases of COVID within her team resulted in them being disqualified from competitions, but after being given the all clear, her Olympic dream was reignited.

Though with skate parks shut down, it forced her to think outside of the box.

And so, she and her family built a makeshift skate ramp in her bedroom to ensure she had the space to practice in the run up to the Games.

Ranked no.4 in the world, a podium finish is well within Olsen’s reach, but she insists that she is just focusing on doing the best she can.

You can read more about Poppy Starr Olsen and her story here.

YOSOZUMI Sakura - Japan

YOSOZUMI Sakura is among the many Japanese skateboarders dominating the scene at the minute.

She picked up skateboarding back in school out of a desire to spend time with her brother.

Now 19 years old, YOSOZUMI is ranked no.2 in the world and comes into the Olympic Games carrying a Dew Tour title that she won in May 2021.

Her title was all but secured when she landed a complete unexpected 540 that she had been practicing in secret with the help of skateboarding World champion Sandro Dias.

And faced with the prospect of winning an Olympic medal, YOSOZUMI is motivated by the desire to give back to her parents who have supported her on this journey.

Medal or no medal, YOSOZUMI does what she does simply because she loves it.

You can read more about YOSOZUMI Sakura and her story here.

Watch the four teen sensations at Tokyo 2020

You can watch park skateboarding's top four world ranked park skateboarders at the Olympics as part of the women's park competition on Wednesday (4 August).

The preliminaries action starts at 09:00 JST, with the final scheduled for 12:30 JST.

You can find out where to watch all the action at the Tokyo Olympic Games by clicking here.

You can read more about skateboarding at Tokyo 2020, and all other events from the Games, in the official Tokyo 2020 Olympics live blog.