Setback for Sky Brown but Paris 2024 surfing qualification hopes not over yet
British dual sport threat couldn't qualify from the women's main round 3 at the ISA World Surfing Games but still has a chance to book a surf quota spot for the next Olympics.
Sky Brown suffered a setback in her bid to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics in two sports.
The British teenager finished last in her round 3 heat at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games on Wednesday (28 February), live on Olympic Channel.
Brown will face a women's repechage on Thursday in a bid to stay in the competition and keep alive her chances of winning a berth in women's surfing.
“It was pretty challenging," she told Olympics.com on the beach in Puerto Rico. "I didn’t go with my game plan. My head just went blank out there, I didn’t know what to do, but it was a good experience. I learned a lot.”
“It’s very bumpy and windy and waves are coming from all over the place. It’s definitely very tricky out there, but the girls were ripping and it was cool to be in that heat.”
She needs to finish in the top two in every heat from now on to realise that dream of winning a berth to the Paris 2024 competition, which takes place in Tahiti.
“I got nothing to lose, just going to surf and try my best and see where that takes me. I’m going to believe in myself.”
“I wasn’t super happy about that heat. I wanted to show my surfing more. I didn’t really get up on the wave that much, but I still have another chance, so hopefully I can bring it on there.”
Brown was the second casualty in heat 8, along with South Africa's Sarah Baum, who secured a provisional Olympic quota at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games as the top-ranked female athlete from Africa.
China's young star Yang Siqi took the win with 9.97 points with Spain's Lucia Machado also advancing through the main round.
Brown's next heat will see her pitted against Tahiti-born Vahine Fierro and, Japan's Maeda Mahina and Spain's Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri. Fierro already has a provisional quota for Paris 2024, while Maeda is still fighting to secure an individual spot as well as help Japanese women get an extra, third women's quota for the upcoming Games.
She became the youngest ever Olympian and Olympic medallist from Great Britain when she won bronze in the women’s park event at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, and is now aspiring to become the first athlete to qualify in both skateboarding and surfing at an Olympic Games.
“Qualifying for surfing and skating, it's been a big dream of mine,” Brown told us ahead of the event.
There are eight individual quotas up for grabs in the women's competition at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, which serves as the final qualifier for Paris 2024
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
