An 11-year-old skateboarder is aiming to land a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics because she want to show girls 'what is possible'.

Sky Brown lives in Japan but qualifies to compete for Great Britain through her father. The skateboarder, who competed in the junior version of Dancing with the Stars, would become Britain's youngest ever Olympian if she went to Tokyo.

She said: “As soon as I had learned to walk I was on a skateboard. I don’t know if that’s young, maybe… you can start at any age. You probably couldn’t when you’re a baby, actually, that wouldn’t work because you can’t stand up, you’d fall over, but once you can walk you can skate.

“Skateboarding is fun, that’s all I think about. I still don’t think to myself that it's something serious. I just love it. Skateboarding is my happy place, when I’m on the board, it’s everything I want to be doing.

“The most important part of doing any sport, not just skateboarding, is that you enjoy it. I love skateboarding, that is my passion, but my advice would be to try a load of different sports, not just one, and find the one you love.

“If you want to get better at a sport you have to love it because then you don’t mind all the practising. Be brave and try things.”

Brown is currently ranked ninth in the world after finishing fifth at the qualifiers in Nanjing, China. The next qualification is being held in Brazil this week. The top 12 ranked women and girls qualify for Tokyo.

Skateboarding has been made an Olympic event specifically for Tokyo but has not been confirmed for the Paris 2024 games. 

“When I found out it was going to be an Olympic sport I was super excited. It’s just great that the sport I love is going to be in the Olympics. For sure, it’s going to help the sport to grow. Millions of people are going to watch it and they might think, ‘you know what, I think I can do that'.

“The goal is to get to the Olympics and to experience it all. I want to show girls all over the world what is possible.

“I don’t really get annoyed when I mess up a trick, that’s part of skateboarding. You’re going to fall off, it’s part of the learning process. You know you’re going to fall, you know you’re going to mess it up sometimes, but that’s ok.”