Hiraki was the second-youngest athlete among the 11,000 at these Olympics. She wore white Nike coveralls, like someone about to go painting, and turns 13 in about three weeks. (The youngest Olympian competing in Tokyo was Hend Zaza of Syria, a table-tennis player.)
Brown turned 13 last month. She is the effervescent daughter of a British father and Japanese mother, who 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 notoriety in Britain by winning a juniors version of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2018. Her smile and 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 in two high ramps, crashing at least 15 feet to the concrete. She was unconscious with a skull fracture and broke her left wrist and hand. A chipped tooth was repaired this spring.
“I was dead — well, not dead, but knocked out for, like, 16 hours,” she said in an interview in May.
She was back on a board a few weeks later, and appeared to be flying higher and skating harder than ever at the Olympics.