Winter Olympics 2022 - Zoe Atkin: Team GB star savours ‘amazing’ debut after finishing ninth in halfpipe final

Updated 18/02/2022 at 10:58 GMT

Team GB’s Zoe Atkin qualified for the women’s freeski halfpipe final in fourth, but the 19-year-old ended the event ninth at Beijing 2022. She stumbled in her first two runs and then posted 73.25 in Run 3. Her qualifying effort of 86.75 would only have been enough for fifth in the final. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.

‘A thing of beauty!’ – GB's Atkin lays down ‘very technical’ run in halfpipe final

Zoe Atkin is taking the positives from her overall Olympic debut despite struggling to replicate her qualifying form in Friday’s halfpipe final.

The 19-year-old Briton finished ninth in the halfpipe as Eileen Gu stormed to a second gold of these Winter Olympics.

Atkin was unable to put together a clean run in her first two attempts, losing a ski on both occasions.

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However, a final run 73.25 was enough to place ninth out of the 12 finalists.

It was a case of what might have been for Atkin, having won bronze in the world championships last year and recording an 86.75 in qualifying on Thursday, but she admitted she lacked the speed capable of troubling the podium.

Zoe Atkin of Team Great Britain crashes on their first run during the Women's Freestyle Freeski Halfpipe Final on Day 14 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park on February 18

Image credit: Getty Images

"I had some speed issues which led to me not being able to do some tricks I wanted to do. I’m glad I put one run down because I fell on my first two,” Atkin told BBC Sport afterwards.

"To be able to ski in the Olympic is an amazing opportunity and I was really glad to make it to the finals and make it this far on my Olympic debut.

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"I definitely wanted to land a good, clean run that was a bit bigger with some harder tricks but unfortunately I didn’t have the speed."

Gu topped the standings with 95.25, while defending champion Cassie Sharpe claimed silver with a 90.75 to finish ahead of compatriot Rachael Karker, whose 87.75 just 0.75 points more than Kelly Sildaru in fourth.