Women's park skateboarding brings two youngest Olympic medalists since 1936 and a delightful, unexpected lift

TOKYO — A bunch of friends got together to skateboard in a park on a very hot day, and when it was over, and they had worn all their fun, colorful clothes and tried their toughest tricks and hugged each other 100 times, the 19-year-old beat the 12-year-old who beat the 13-year-old.

Women’s park skateboarding arrived at the Summer Games Wednesday, giving the Olympics its two youngest medalists since 1936, a 1-2 Japanese finish and a delightful, unexpected lift.

Purists will shudder, but skateboarding has proven itself to be a fitting newcomer to the Olympics, a breath of fresh air — if such a thing was possible on an utterly oppressive, 91-degree day — in the middle of the Games’ long second week. 

“This is insane,” said the 13-year-old bronze medalist, Sky Brown of Great Britain, after her adventurous morning and early afternoon of thrills and spills had come to an end. "Everyone did amazing, everyone was doing so good, I’m so proud of everyone and just being on the podium with my really good friend is just insane.”