Zoe Atkin Winter Olympics: Atkin wins halfpipe bronze in Livigno
The zoe atkin winter olympics campaign ended with a halfpipe bronze in Livigno as Zoe Atkin improved to a 92. 50 on her final run to claim third place. The 23-year-old matched her sister Izzy’s Pyeongchang 2018 bronze and became only the second British athlete to win an Olympic medal on skis.
Zoe Atkin Winter Olympics final details
Atkin had already secured a medal before she dropped into the pipe for her final run and, with the pressure off, improved her score to 92. 50, finishing just half a point shy of the silver position. She had qualified in first place and came into the Games fresh from winning the superpipe competition at last month’s Aspen X Games, arriving as X Games gold medallist and the reigning world champion.
Scores, heights and judging debate
China’s Eileen Gu won gold with a score of 94. 75, while Li Fanghui took silver with 93. 00. At one stage during the final run Atkin flew five metres in the air — a metre more than Gu and nearly two metres higher than Li — yet was given 92. 5. The British team believed Atkin had been harshly done by in the judging, a view that prompted public comment from GB Snowsport leadership and her coach.
Reactions from coach and chief executive
Vicky Gosling, chief executive of GB Snowsport, said: "The minimum I thought she was going to get was silver. There are men that would struggle with the height Zoe actually gets. We’re absolutely delighted that we’ve got a medal. But did I take a big intake? I probably did. " Atkin’s coach, Joe Schuster, said: "Judging is a tough thing. I don’t want to say anything negative. I'm super happy. But if she had ended up higher than a bronze, I wouldn’t have been surprised. "
Family link to Pyeongchang bronze
As a 15-year-old in 2018, Zoe Atkin watched her big sister Izzy win Winter Olympic bronze for Team GB in the Pyeongchang slopestyle, a moment that lit a spark in her. She said: "She's always been my biggest inspiration, she pushed me into the sport, she was always bullying me to jump off things on the mountain. " She described the result as "a real full-circle moment because she was here supporting me, and I was there when she won her bronze medal, so it's really special. " Atkin added: "Obviously I wanted to one-up her a bit but it's really special that we both have the bronze. " She also said: "I've dreamed about this. " Her mother, she said, "is claiming that she's the first parent to have two Olympic medallists for GB in the family. "
Team GB record-equalling haul
Atkin’s bronze was the fifth medal for Great Britain at the Milan-Cortina Games, coming after three golds and a silver and equalling the team’s record-best haul from 2014 and 2018. Team GB had secured golds in the mixed team snowboarding, mixed team skeleton and the men's singles skeleton, while narrowly missing out in the men's curling and settling for silver. Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale secured the second of those golds in the mixed team snowboard cross exactly a week ago, and Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker won the mixed team skeleton gold; Weston also separately took the men's singles skeleton title. The men's curling team, led by Bruce Mouat, lost to Canada in a tense final and had to settle for silver, a repeat of their Beijing 2022 result. Never before had Great Britain won more than one gold at a single Winter Games until these events.
Atkin's perspective and Gu's dominance
Atkin said she had been nervous about the final and "played it a little bit safe on my first run" before she "stepped it up a little bit on my third run. " She reflected: "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. " Atkin had finished ninth on her Olympic debut in Beijing four years ago and came to these Games determined to improve. Eileen Gu, the gold medallist, was described in coverage of the event as a dominant figure in the sport: she is 22 years old, the highest-paid athlete at these Games, an IMG model and a Stanford University student, and is the most decorated freeskier in history with six Olympic medals. Gu said of the demands of multiple events: "I kind of liken it to a marathon, but the pace of a 100m dash. Because I had to give 100% every day. But I'm not afraid to try. I take big risks. And for the last two Olympics, it's worked out. But even if it hadn't, I think I left nothing on the table. "
Halfpipe skiing and context
Halfpipe skiing involves an athlete performing tricks on a U-shaped course made of hard-packed snow. The women's final in Livigno was widely described as one of the greatest events seen at these Games, with large margins in height and tight scoring separating the top three.
Atkin’s bronze completes a narrative that began in 2018 and added a second British Olympic skiing medallist in the family, while contributing to Team GB’s most successful Winter Olympics moment and a record-equalling five-medal total at Milan-Cortina.
