Brown shared the news on her Instagram stories, along with photos and videos of her arrival in Paris, as a medical team examines her to ensure she makes it to next week's scheduled event.

The 16-year-old star began skating at the age of four and competing at eight: at 13, she won bronze in the inaugural women's skateboarding event at the Tokyo Games. She arrives in Paris as the favourite in women's park.

Injuries are nothing new for her: Brown recently overcame a torn medial cruciate ligament in her knee, which ruled her out of the first stop of the Olympic Qualification Series (OQS) in Shanghai. However, she still finished runner-up in the final in Budapest.

The teenager will compete alongside her best friend and reigning Olympic champion Yosozumi Sakura, who almost missed out on Paris, but thanks to Brown's strategic skateboarding in Budapest, the duo will be able to experience the Olympics together.

Skate and surf

She also goes to Paris with her other passion, surfing, in which she also competes, so she is aiming for success in two disciplines. Brown, whose mother is Japanese and father British, goes surfing every morning at her home in California before practicing skateboarding after school.

Few athletes have competed in two sports at the Games in recent history - but Brown will look to join the exclusive group of 85 athletes to have stepped on the Olympic podium in two different sports.

Seven athletes have achieved this feat since 2004, with Czech snowboarder and Alpine skier Ester Ledecka the most notable figure to compete in two sports at the same Games - winning gold medals in snowboard parallel giant slalom and super-G at Pyeongchang 2018.

Children from 11+ to be among those competing in Paris

Skateboarder Zheng Haohao from China (11), Indian swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu (14) and two US athletes, gymnast Hezly Rivera (16) and relay runner Quincy Wilson (16) are just some of the young athletes competing at the Olympic Games in the French capital.

Unlike the Youth Games, which limits participation to those aged 15 to 18, the Olympics has no age limit governing all 32 sports. Rather, the governing body of each individual sport decides if there should an age limit, as gymnastics (16) and diving (14) have done.