So, what exactly were you thinking about at the age of 12? Perhaps it was school, growing closer to the teenage years, hanging out with friends or preparing to compete in the Olympics. Wait, what? Competing in the Olympics? Believe it or not, it’s likely to become a reality for a 12-year-old girl from Great Britain. Meet Sky Brown, a skateboarding prodigy who just might be one of the youngest athletes to compete at the Summer Olympics. Skateboarding is a new sport at this year’s Games, and Brown has a great chance of being named to Great Britain’s team after finishing second at an Olympics qualifier in Des Moines, Iowa on May 23. Great Britain won’t officially name its team until July, but results at qualifying events and standings in the world rankings are two big sets of criteria that Brown already meets. Brown, who twice attempted a frontside rodeo 540 trick but failed both times, said she was not anxious about competing at the July 23-August 8 Tokyo Games, where skateboarding will make its Olympic debut. “I definitely want to do both my 5s [540 tricks] in the Olympics and maybe get on the podium, but really I’m just having fun skateboarding,” Brown said. “I’m always wonderfully surprised to see where it takes me. So, I’m not too stressed about the Olympics. I just want to see what happens and enjoy the journey.” Born to a Japanese mother and a British father, Brown is the No. 3-ranking skateboarder in the world overall, according to Around the Rings. All this has come after Brown last year had to undergo surgery for a fractured skull, a broken wrist and a broken hand following a training fall. If she qualifies, Brown would be one of the youngest athletes ever at the Olympics, and certainly one of the youngest in close to a century. In 1936, a 12-year-old swimmer named Inge Sorenson competed at the Berlin Games. In 1928, Italy sent three young gymnasts to the Games, those being 11-year-old Luigina Giavotti, 12-year-old Ines Vercesi and 12-year-old Carla Marangoni. At the first modern Olympics in 1896, a 10-year-old named Dimitrios Loundras competed as a gymnast. Will Brown join that list of pre-teens to compete in the Olympics? At the moment, her prospects appear to be sky-high. (SD-Agencies) | 