Zoe Atkin matches sister’s achievement with Winter Olympic bronze

Zoe Atkin shrugged off the weight of expectation, set L’il Wayne streaming in her ear-buds, and secured a record-equalling fifth Winter Olympic medal for Great Britain in the women’s ski halfpipe final at Livigno Snow Park.

Atkin, whose sister Izzy won slopestyle bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018, earned a matching colour behind Chinese duo Eileen Gu and Li Fanghui, who came on strong in an event in which the single best score from three runs determines the final standings.

Atkin, who arrived in Italy as the 2025 world champion one of the nation’s strongest medal hopes, was forced to wait until Sunday morning after heavy snow curtailed the competition’s scheduled Saturday evening start time.

Atkin said: “I can’t even begin to describe the rollercoaster of emotions it is here at the Olympics.

“I was so stressed out today and so nervous, so I played it a little bit safe on my first run just to put one down, and I stepped it up a little bit on my third run.

“I’ve been working on my run for the past four years, even longer, and to be able to come back to the Olympics and be on the podium means so much to me. I’ve been thinking about it for so long.”

The 23-year-old had not helped the expectation level by qualifying in first place and immediately establishing a lead after the first run with a score of 91.5.

While Atkin started the final in style, Gu, looking to upgrade on the two silver medals she had earned already in Livigno and defend her halfpipe crown, pulled out of her first run after her first jump, looking unsettled.

Gu has been distracted throughout her time in Italy, bringing 21 different pairs of skis in her luggage and railing against organisers for failing to accommodate her training requirements as the only athlete to compete in all three disciplines.

But while Atkin crashed at her second attempt, Gu and Li scored higher-ranking routines to move into first and second place respectively, embellishing each of those runs at the third attempt.

Atkin, starting last by virtue of her qualifying score, also bumped up her total to 92.5, but it fell just short of Li’s 93.0, and Gu’s gold medal-winning 94.75, and left the Briton to reflect on a medal colour to match that of her older sister.

“I wanted to one-up her so bad,” joked Atkin. “But watching her in 2018 has always been such a big moment of inspiration for me, and she’s always been my biggest role model, so to have her watching supporting me when I was watching her in Pyeongchang was so special.”

Atkin’s medal means Team GB match their previous best haul of five from both the 2014 and 2018 Games – although three golds make it officially their most successful.

For Gu, meanwhile, there was emphatic vindication of her decision to contest all three freestyle disciplines, a decision which set her against organisers who refused to buckle in her quest for more halfpipe practice.

The 22-year-old Gu, reputedly the world’s richest sportswoman outside tennis, celebrated her sixth career Olympic medal in typically bombastic fashion, saying: “I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female.

“I have the most gold medals ever, male or female. That’s a testament to competitive strength, it’s mental strength. It’s being able to perform under pressure, it has nothing to (do with) if you’re a boy or a girl.”