X Games, rated G: Age is no object for youngest of competitors at summer showcase

One of Sky Brown's earliest memories is of swiping her dad's skateboard. Nearly every day, when Stu Brown skated on the mini-ramp in the family's backyard, his daughter would wait for her opportunity, grab the board and scoot around.

Brown guessed she was "probably about zero" when the skateboard became her favorite toy — which wasn't that long ago. Less than a month after her 11th birthday, Brown is the most famous of the nine athletes between 10 and 15 years old who are competing in this weekend's X Games at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Tim Reed, vice president of X Games, said "the fields keep getting younger" in an event that has been steeped in youth culture since its founding 25 years ago. Wednesday, 10-year-old Gui Khury of Brazil became the youngest athlete in X Games history when he competed in the skateboard vert elimination round. In Thursday's qualifying for women's skateboard street, Momiji Nishiya of Japan (11) led the field, while Rayssa Leal of Brazil (11) and Yumeka Oda of Japan (13) also advanced to Sunday's finals.

The women's skateboard park competition on Friday includes Japan's Cocona Hiraki (10) and Misugu Okamoto (13); Brown, a dual citizen of Japan and Great Britain (11); and Kody Tamanaha of Hawaii (15). 12-year-old Keefer Wilson of Australia also competed in skateboard big air.

"I actually had to name myself the team mom because I'm the oldest, at 21," said Nicole Hause of Stillwater, who competes in women's park. "A lot of them can't even drive. It's crazy."

Then again, who needs a car when a skateboard can take you anywhere you want to go? Brown already has competed in several countries, is sponsored by Nike and has 398,000 followers on Instagram. She has her sights set on next year's Tokyo Olympics, when she could become the youngest British summer Olympian in history as skateboarding makes its Summer Games debut.

"When I was little, I'd be the youngest girl at the skate park, or sometimes the only girl," said Brown, competing at the X Games for the first time. "Now, usually, when I get to the skate park, I'll see a couple girls. And that's really cool to me.

"I hope when girls see us, little kids, doing this sport, they'll think they can do it, too. I feel like we can bring more little kids. That's what I want to do, inspire kids to go out and do whatever they want to do."

The fun-sized skaters are often crowd favorites, though they're hardly a novelty act. While older skaters have more experience and strength, the wee ones can still shred with the best.

Okamoto has won both Olympic qualifiers this year in women's skateboard park and holds a wide lead in the Olympic point standings. Hiraki is ranked fifth, and Brown is ninth. Six of the top nine women are 17 or younger.

Reed said the X Games have changed their event mix over the years, adding and highlighting events such as skateboard park that draw younger participants. The Games also have benefited from the expanding number of skate parks that have been built in the U.S. and other countries. Those have given more kids access to skateboarding, while the growing popularity of the X Games have given it more visibility.

"When you look at the events we've added, the [skateboard] park events, those are disciplines that target a younger athlete," Reed said. "That's helped bring in a whole new generation, versus what we used to do, things like rally car racing. You don't have 10-year-olds driving rally cars.

"That was part of the strategy. We wanted to be younger. We wanted to be more relevant to kids and what kids were doing. Targeting disciplines heavy with younger participants was part of it."

Skateboarding holds the most opportunity for the preteen crowd. According to moto X athlete Rob Adelberg, the smaller bikes that younger competitors use cannot handle the jumps, limiting BMX and moto X mostly to athletes age 15 and older.

Hause said she "loves the little kids" and what they are bringing to the sport. "When I started, there were maybe one or two contests a year," she said. "Now there are tons, so they can progress a little faster than the girls before them did. That's just going to push the sport forward."

Unlike most Olympic sports, skateboarding does not have any minimum age requirements. That opens the door for Brown and others to participate at even younger ages than some recent teen medalists, such as swimmer Katie Ledecky (15) and snowboarder Chloe Kim (17).

Brown, who also is a competitive surfer, is excited about the possibility of getting to the Summer Games in the country where her family lives. She isn't motivated by medals, though.

"If I go in the Olympics and do a crazy trick, and look like I'm having fun, maybe someone will think, 'I can do that,' " she said. "I want to tell kids, girls especially, that it doesn't matter what people say or what they think. Just go out and have fun."