Two 12-year-old girls are headed to Tokyo this summer to compete in the first-ever Olympic skateboarding competition.
The two skateboard phenoms are Kokona Hiraki, who will be skating for Japan, and Sky Brown, who will represent Great Britain.
Skateboarding is making its debut as an Olympic sport, and will feature two different disciplines: park, which involves doing tricks on skate park-style ramps and bowls; and street, which involves tricks done on handrails, benches, stairs, walls, and slopes.
Hiraki will compete as the youngest-ever athlete from Japan, and ranks as the sixth-best female park skateboarding competitor in the world. Brown currently ranks as third-best.
In an interview with The Japan Times, Hiraki said she didn’t let nerves get the best of her at the qualifier.
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Brown, on the other hand, suffered some horrifying injuries during training in June of 2020. She fell and fractured her skull, and broke her wrist and hand. Despite the injuries, she recovered and continued to train, leading her to take home second place in the Olympic qualifier.
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Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk told ESPN last year he believes Brown has “incredible potential.”
“She could definitely be one of the best female skaters ever, if not one of the best well-rounded skaters ever, regardless of gender. She has such confidence, such force, even at such a young age. The way she’s able to learn new tricks and the way she absorbs direction, it’s so rare,” he said.
The Olympics are set to begin on July 23, and the skateboarding competition will start on July 25.
