Skateboarding at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Skateboarding was added to the Olympics with the hope that it will instill the Summer Games with a jolt of youthful rebellion.One way it will do that in Tokyo is by starring true youth.The youngest athletes in the sport have reasonable expectations to win medals.
Kokona Hiraki of Japan is 12 (she will turn 13 a few weeks after the Olympics), but two bigger favorites are 13-year-old Sky Brown of Britain and 15-year-old Misugu Okamoto of Japan.
Beyond their diminutive sizes and flying acrobatics in the bowl, Brown and Okamoto are a study in contrasts. Brown is the effervescent daughter of a British father and Japanese mother, who grew up mostly in Japan and now lives mostly in California. Her smile will earn her fans in at least three countries.