Britain’s star skateboarder Sky Brown has dislocated her shoulder days before the park event she is due to compete in, but has been cleared to take part in Paris.
The 16-year-old sustained the injury in training on Sunday, just 24 hours before she travelled to the Games. She suffered a full dislocation but on Thursday Team GB doctors and physios passed her fit to skate.
“This one was really scary,” said Brown. “My shoulder being out and I couldn’t get it back in. My dad put it in for me. When I get back I’ll have to do surgery, so it doesn’t come out again. They’re bringing some braces tomorrow and I will try it out and have to be strapped for every time I skate.”
The park competition begins on Tuesday morning with the preliminary round, followed by the final that afternoon at La Concorde. How competitive Brown will be while carrying the injury is unclear.
In Tokyo three years ago, Brown clinched Olympic bronze in the women’s park skateboarding final aged just 13 years and 28 days. This meant Brown became Britain’s youngest summer Games medallist.
Speaking to the Guardian earlier this year she was excited about competing at her second Games but not purely focused on claiming another medal.
“I don’t feel pressure, honestly, having done it in Tokyo already,” she said. “It just makes me want to show my new tricks even more. It’s just exciting for me. Skating is really not about the medals. It’s about the show you put on for everyone.”
In Paris, Brown is part of a three-strong GB team for these Games made up of her fellow teenager Lola Tambling and the 51-year-old Andy Macdonald.
Brown has had a rocky past few months with injuries after sustaining an MCL tear in her knee, while she also narrowly failed to qualify for surfing before these Games.