Sky Brown dominates on return in the Olympic qualifying phase

It has now been 389 days Sky brown last competed in an Olympic skateboarding qualifying event. And yet, cruising through the bowl in Budapest at the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS)it was as if she had never left.

A failed Olympics surf qualifying tilt made by injuries, including most recently one MCL tearhad the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist outside the skating competition circuit. In her absence, others rose to the top.

Coming to the OQS – a last chance saloon for skaters, breakers, climbers and BMX riders looking to secure a quota for Paris 2024 – one question prevailed: How could the Brown Tariff be gone for so long?

With a bubbly smile in the sweltering heat of Budapest, Britain’s youngest Olympian replied emphatically.

The 15-year-old skated in heat three of the women’s park preliminaries and shot straight to the top of the leaderboard with an opening run of 85.01.

Brown’s effortless demeanor as she glided from her Madonnas to her alley-oop pose mesmerized the packed stands. As if to underline her return, she improved her score to 86.58 on her second run, before raising it again to 86.88 on her third run.

All Brown could do was watch the skaters’ turn in the final heat. As they entered, run by run, in the end no one could match her efforts.

Closest to her at the end of the afternoon action was the United States. Bryce Wettstein (83.75) and that of Japan Kusaki Hinano (83.60) who qualified second and third respectively.

For the Brit it was the perfect comeback and for the rest of the field it was a moment to take note of.

Also through to the semi-finals were the US Elegance Marhoefer, Ruby Lilley And Minna Stess who came through in 10th, 14th and 16th place respectively.

Three of her compatriots will join Kusaki Hasegawa Mizuho, Hiraki KokonaAnd Yosozumi Sakurahot on her wheels, qualifying fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

OQS Budapest is the last chance for skaters to collect ranking points that will be used to determine the final field for the competition. Olympics Paris 2024.

The semi-final of the women’s park competition will take place on Saturday 22 June.

All the skateboarding action from the Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest was streamed live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com, the official Olympic Games app for mobile devices.