Sky Brown, champion of the Juniors edition of Dancing With The Stars, can now place an Olympic bronze medal next to her coveted Mirrorball Trophy. Just before Sky competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she posted several photos on her Instagram to describe how thankful she is to "show the world how beautiful and creative skateboarding really is." The 13-year-old star continued to explain how she hopes her successes can inspire other young women who are "watching this and thinking I can do this too."
Sky's talents in skateboarding and surfing led her to not only become a social media sensation at a very young age but also to be one of the youngest girls to compete and medal at a professional skateboarding competition. Shortly after her athletic successes, Sky traded in her boards for some dance shoes to compete on ABC's Dancing With The Stars: Juniors. At just 10 years old, she partnered with young dance pro JT Church and was mentored by current Dancing With The Stars pro Alan Bersten. Throughout the season, Sky danced against the likes of other young celebrities such as Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, Tripp Johnston-Palin and Mackenzie Ziegler. Though some of the Juniors competing were already famous for dancing, Sky was still crowned the champion.
Skateboarding made its debut appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Competing on behalf of Great Britain, Sky became the youngest person to ever win an Olympic medal for her home country. Sky, who took home the bronze, wasn't even the youngest female athlete who found great success in the new event. Standing next to her on the podium was 12-year-old silver medalist Kokona Hiraki, competing on behalf of Japan. Also representing the same country, 19-year-old Sakura Yosozumi took home the gold. In a video posted to Sky's Instagram Story after her biggest accomplishment to date, the DWTS alum told her fans, "Hey, guys, I'm so happy to have this medal. I'm so grateful for all the support." Sky now plans to celebrate when she gets home to Oceanside, California, with a grand party and a great surf in her backyard. According to The Guardian, the young athlete would also like to quality for the British surfing team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "I really hope so. I'm definitely going to try surfing," Sky said. "I'm going to go surf a lot after here. I'm excited to see my brother again, and I'm going to go party with my friends."
Winning an Olympic medal is one of the biggest accomplishments any athlete can achieve, but it's especially important to DWTS alum Sky, who suffered from an accident while attempting a trick on a mega ramp just last year. The crash reportedly left her with multiple skull fractures, lacerated lungs and a broken left arm. "That accident was pretty bad," she said, reflecting upon how her parents tried to make her quit the sport for good. "But I kind of knew I was always going to come here, but it was a hard time for my parents and a hard time for a lot of people, and coming back and getting the bronze is really cool. I'm really happy. It's really made me stronger."
Though many of the athletes competing in the event seemed young, winning an Olympic medal is no easy feat. Now that Sky has a Dancing With The Stars championship and one Olympic medal under her belt, she's convinced she can win another for Olympic surfing, which will be a bit tricky to double up with skateboarding considering the event is being held at the same time in Tahiti. Still, in the fashion of being the best Girl Dad in sports, Sky's father is supportive of her dreams, saying they'll make it work if that's what she wants to do.
Sources: Sky Brown/Instagram, The Guardian