Beijing Olympics 2022 - Team GB freestyle skiing medal hope Izzy Atkin hoping for Games miracle after breaking pelvis
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Updated 20/12/2021 at 10:18 GMT
The ski slopestyle bronze medallist from Pyeongchang 2018 posted a picture of herself in a hospital bed having suffered the injury while competing in the Dew Tour event at Copper Mountain. With just over a month and a half to go until the Olympics begin, Atkin says she is not giving up on getting to the Games.
Izzy Atkin
Image credit: Getty Images
Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Izzy Atkin says she is “keeping hope alive” that she can get to Beijing 2022, after breaking her pelvis with eight weeks to go until her event starts.
The freestyle ski athlete suffered the injury at the Dew Tour event at Copper Mountain but says she is not giving up on reaching the Games, having already met the qualifying criteria.
Atkin is one of Britain’s greatest hopes for a medal, having won silver at the X Games in Colorado at the start of the year - an event which also saw her end up in hospital, having suffered a concussion.
Posting a picture of herself on social media in a hospital bed, Atkin said: “I managed to cap off a fun week of skiing the amazing @dewtour course with a broken pelvis. There’s a long and painful recovery ahead but I’m already up and walking (with an old lady walker lol) and keeping hope alive for the Olympics in February :) Thanks for all the kind words.”
The 23-year-old became Britain’s first skier to win an Olympic medal when she finished third in the slopestyle in South Korea in 2018. Born and bred in the USA, with a British father and a Malaysian mother, she began her World Cup season earlier this month with a 16th place finish in the big air competition in Steamboat.
She now faces a race against time to make the Games, with the slopestyle qualifying event starting on February 13. Fellow Team GB athlete Katie Ormerod, who competes in the same discipline - but in snowboard - sent a message with “lots of healing vibes”, while double Olympic skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold commented on the Instagram post saying “look after yourself Izzy”.
Atkin’s younger sister Zoe is also a big hope for a medal in Beijing, having won halfpipe bronze at the World Ski Championships in March.
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