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Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin wins bronze in record-equalling medal haul for Team GB at Winter Olympics | UK News
Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin has won a bronze medal in the women’s halfpipe final at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
It means a record-equalling medal tally of five for Team GB, which had already secured three golds, more than at any other winter Games, as well as a silver in the men’s curling on Saturday.
The total haul of five medals was also achieved in 2014 and 2018.
Atkin, 23, whose father is British and has held dual UK-American citizenship since birth, came into the Games having won the superpipe competition at last month’s Aspen X Games.
Halfpipe skiing involves an athlete performing tricks on a U-shaped course made of hard-packed snow.
Atkin, from Massachusetts, qualified in first place but fell behind Eileen Gu, the defending champion, and Li Fanghui in the final. The Chinese pair won gold and silver, respectively.
(L-R) Li Fanghui and Eileen Gu won silver and gold respectively for China, and Britain’s Zoe Atkin got bronze. Pic: AP
She said she was nervous about the final and “played it a little bit safe on my first run” but then “stepped it up a little bit on my third run”.
“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,” she said.
Last weekend, Team GB made history with two golds: the first for Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in the mixed team snowboarding, and the second for Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker in the mixed team skeleton.
It was the first time Team GB had secured two gold medals on a single day of any previous Winter Games.
It is also the second gold at these games for Weston, who separately took the men’s singles skeleton title.
Team GB missed out on a gold on Saturday after losing to Canada in a tense final in the men’s curling.
The team, led by Bruce Mouat, had to settle for silver, a repeat of their result from the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Team member Bobby Lammie told Sky News: “I think we actually felt good pretty much the majority of the game. We felt in control and felt like we were controlling most of the game… and just unfortunately, there were too many mistakes.”
They had hoped to become the first British men’s team to claim curling gold for 102 years.
Mouat, Lammie, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Kyle Waddell had come into this event after winning two World Championships.
Bruce Mouat’s team had to settle for silver in the men’s curling. Pic: PA
Curlers Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie and Bruce Mouat. Pic: AP
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Director of performance at UK Sport, Dr Kate Baker, told Sky News: “It’s absolutely been an historic games for Team GB. It’s incredible to come away with so many Olympic champions to that point.
“We’ve never had more than one gold medal at a games before, and so to come home with multiple is absolutely brilliant.”
This evening will see the closing ceremony in Verona as the curtain comes down on the Winter Olympics.
Norway are currently top of the table when ranked by gold medals. It has 18 compared to 11 from the US in second place, and 10 from The Netherlands in third. Italy is ranked fourth, followed by Germany and France.