TOKYO — The formidable team of skateboarders from Japan continued its stellar performance at the Olympics and on Wednesday took the gold and silver medals in the women’s park competition, ending the gold medal hopes of the 13-year-old Sky Brown.
Sakura Yosozumi, 19, won the event under the blistering midday sun at Ariake Urban Sports Park. Her winning score of 60.09 put her a point ahead of the 12-year-old Kokona Hiraki.
Brown, who grew up in Japan, lives in California and competed for Britain, finished third to earn the bronze medal.
Brown stumbled in her first two runs of the final but skated flawlessly on the pressure-packed third. She raised her arms in the air, climbed out of the bowl and knelt on the deck and then got hugs from her competitors.
The judges were less impressed and gave her a score of 56.47.
Misugu Okamoto, 15 and a favorite for the gold medal, came off the board on all of her final runs but still scored well enough to finish fourth.
The women’s park discipline in skateboarding had the youngest set of teenagers (and one preteen) in the Olympics. One by one, they dropped into the concrete bowl and buzzed over its ramps and hips and up its walls, flying up and over the lip to twist and turn and drop back in again.
Runs lasted 45 seconds. Brown, Hiraki and Okamoto were among those who stood out from the beginning with bigger airs, more nuanced tricks and bursts of speed and confidence.
Hiraki, who will turn 13 in about three weeks, was the second-youngest athlete among the 11,000 at these Olympics. She wore white Nike coveralls, like someone about to go painting. (The youngest Olympian competing in Tokyo was Hend Zaza of Syria, a table-tennis player.)
Brown turned 13 last month. The effervescent daughter of a British father and a Japanese mother, she grew up mostly in Japan and now lives mostly in Southern California.
“All three of them feel like home,” she said.
She competed in baggy pants and a tank top featuring the Union Jack. She gained attention in Britain by winning a juniors version of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2018. Her smile and her Instagram posts have earned her fans in at least three countries. She has a younger brother named Ocean who has gained attention, too.
She was severely injured last year in an accident at Tony Hawk’s indoor skatepark when she flew through a gap between two high ramps, crashing at least 15 feet to the concrete. She was unconscious with a skull fracture and broke a wrist and a hand.
She was back on a board a few weeks later and appeared to be flying higher and skating harder than ever at the Olympics.
“Falling is part of skateboarding,” she said in an interview in May. “It’s part of life. I was honestly excited to get back on the board.”
Brown’s main rival at the Olympics was expected to be Okamoto, a quiet and straight-faced competitor, the best park skater of the past couple of years. She is part of a deep Japanese contingent that has captured more medals in skateboarding than any other country — including all three of the Olympic gold medals awarded so far.
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