Zoe Atkin claims bronze medal in freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics

Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin secured a bronze medal in the women’s halfpipe final at the Winter Olympics in Italy, adding another milestone to an already historic campaign for Team GB.

The 23-year-old finished third in a highly competitive final, matching Team GB’s record medal haul of five at a single Winter Games. Britain had already celebrated an unprecedented three gold medals, along with a silver in the men’s curling event earlier in the week.

Born in Massachusetts to a British father, Atkin holds dual British-American citizenship and arrived at the Games in strong form after winning the superpipe title at the Aspen X Games last month. Halfpipe skiing sees athletes perform aerial tricks and spins on a U-shaped snow course, with judges scoring difficulty, execution and style.

Atkin topped the qualification round but was ultimately edged out in the final by China’s Eileen Gu, who defended her Olympic title, and teammate Li Fanghui, who claimed silver. Reflecting on her performance, Atkin admitted nerves played a part early on, saying she kept things conservative on her opening run before pushing harder later in the competition.

“I’ve been building this run for four years, even longer,” Atkin said. “To come back to the Olympics and finish on the podium means everything to me.”

Team GB’s broader success has made this Games one of the most successful in its winter sporting history. The previous weekend saw two gold medals claimed on the same day for the first time, with victories from Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in mixed team snowboarding, followed by Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker in mixed team skeleton.

Weston later added a second gold by winning the men’s singles skeleton, further underlining Britain’s breakout performance. In curling, Team GB narrowly missed out on gold after a tense final defeat to Canada, settling for silver for the second consecutive Games. Skip Bruce Mouat led a team that included Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Kyle Waddell.

UK Sport’s director of performance, Kate Baker, described the results as transformative. She said the Games marked a turning point for British winter sport, with multiple Olympic champions emerging from a single edition for the first time.

With Atkin’s bronze rounding out the medal tally, Team GB’s achievements in Italy have firmly rewritten the nation’s Winter Olympics record books.