Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal
Started by Iainm in Winter Olympics & Paralympics - Pyeongchang 2018 17-Feb-2018 - 6 Replies
Iainm posted Feb-2018
The 19-year old is the youngest member of Team GB in South Korea but she kept her cool in a dramatic and tense final.
A bronze medallist at last year's World Championship and a World Cup winner, the teenager was always considered one of the team's top medal prospects.
And she delivered under extreme pressure, recovering from an error on her first qualifying run to reach the final in nerveless style.
She was lying fourth when she set off on her third and final run in the final but she scored 84.60 points to move into the podium places.
And then, in a virtual repeat of snowboarder Jenny Jones's bronze in Sochi four years ago, she endured a tense wait for another three skiers to complete their runs, including world silver medallist, Sweden's Emma Dahlström.
But Atkin's score was enough to claim a podium place, as Switzerland's Sarah Hoefflin won gold and compatriot Mathilde Gremaud took silver.
It's Team GB's second consecutive Olympic medal on snow but a first on skis - Gina Hathorn finishing fourth in the women's slalom at the 1968 Games in Grenoble.
Atkins said: "I'm just relieved and really happy, it's overwhelming.There were tons of big names in the field, it could have been anyone's medal.I knew I'd skied the best I could and I was just waiting for the last girls to drop. My heart was racing and I couldn't believe it.
"Watching the last few runs, I was really nervous. I wanted them to do well because we're all friends but also for me, it worked out.I'm speechless and stoked to win the bronze and represent Great Britain."
Katie Summerhayes also made a second consecutive Olympic final, following finishing seventh - the same result as four years ago in Sochi.
But the 22-year old from Sheffield has endured a nightmare build-up with injuries, including a fall before today's competition.
She said: "I definitely thought I wouldn't be able to drop in as my ankle was so sore. Up until this week I hadn't completed a slopestyle course since November, so this is my return to snow. In qualification I had to keep it pretty mellow and my ankle was killing me. I went up for the finals and decided to push it a bit more because I wanted to do myself justice. I had a crash in training this morning. However, this is the Olympics and I wanted to compete."
J2SkiNews
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
Jimbobilini
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
J2SkiNews wrote:Second ever... ;)
Can you clarify this? Been wondering about it myself.
Also, my daughter has been so inspired by Izzy that she said to me this morning that she will be winning an Olympic medal in freestyle skiing in the future! I am planning my early retirement 8)
J2SkiNews
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
Iainm
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
The record books show that he did not win a medal, even if he did the 3rd fastest time. Izzy Atkin is the first British Olympian to win a medal on skis.
J2SkiNews
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
Admin
reply to 'Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal' posted Feb-2018
Anyway, moving on, the most important takeaways here just have to be...
iainm wrote:Izzy Atkin became the first British skier to win an Olympic medal with a brilliant slopestyle bronze in PyeongChang. The 19-year old is the youngest member of Team GB
...and...
Jimbobilini wrote:my daughter has been so inspired by Izzy that she said to me this morning that she will be winning an Olympic medal in freestyle skiing in the future!
That is just brilliant! And, from Claire Balding's comments on the coverage yesterday, she's not alone!
The addition of Boarder and Ski Cross, the Slope-style and Big Air in recent years have transformed the Winter Olympics into a must-watch in our household. My 11-year-old is really disappointed to be back at school today as he's been glued to it for the last week.
He was gutted that Woodsy missed out on a medal, and is now desperate to get out to the mountains again ("we *are* going somewhere with a snow park at Easter, Dad").
Topic last updated on 19-February-2018 at 10:14