Zoe Atkin capped Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics with a bronze medal in the freeski half-pipe, to go with three golds and a silver won earlier in the Games.

The 23-year-old is the reigning world and X Games champion and had qualified in top spot, but China’s Eileen Gu recovered from a poor qualifying performance to win gold in her best discipline, defending her title from Beijing four years ago.

Atkin was a disappointing ninth in Beijing and withstood the pressure in Livigno Snow Park to seal a first Olympic medal despite a crash on her second run, equalling her older sister Izzy’s slopestyle bronze from Pyeongchang 2018.

China took gold and silver through Gu – the most decorated freeskier in history, who added a gold to her slopestyle and Big Air silver last week – and Li Fanghui, with whom Atkin shared the overall World Cup crystal globe last season.

Atkin’s bronze takes GB’s overall medal haul up to five, matching the record set in Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang, but an improvement with three golds compared to just one at each of those Games.

She said: “I can’t even begin to describe the rollercoaster of emotions it is here at the Olympics. I was so stressed out today and so nervous. So I kind of played a little bit safer on my first run just to put one down. And then I set it up on that third run there, so I’m just super stoked.”

Her family and fellow Olympic medallist sister were in Livigno to cheer her on, and she added: “I wanted to one up her so bad! But no, watching her in 2018 has always been such a big moment of inspiration for me. And she’s always been my biggest role model. It was so full circle to have her watching me here and supporting me, when I was watching her in Pyeongchang when she got her medal. It’s really special, and to share that with her means so much.​​​​​​​”

The final was initially delayed by an hour and a half due to heavy snowfall in Livigno which completely blanketed the half-pipe, with poor visibility making it unsafe for the event to go ahead, before the decision was made to push it back to Sunday.

Fortunately the weather gods smiled on Livigno on the final day of the Games, and 11 athletes – missing Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, who qualified third but crashed hard and withdrew with a concussion – took to the Snow Park in bright sunshine.

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Nerves were on show for much of the field, with several of the early starters crashing on their first run and struggling to maintain balance landing on the fresh snow.

Gu produced a huge first trick but landed slightly awkwardly and bailed on the remainder of her run, having lost all her speed, and scored on 30.00 to go into eighth place.

But Li was on impeccable form, launching up the 7 metre wall fearlessly and transitioning well between difficult tricks to post 81.25, going into provisional third.

A relaxed-looking Atkin, who had qualified in first place, chatted to her coach at the top of the half-pipe and spent some time on her phone selecting her music choice for the run before setting off.

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The 23-year-old’s amplitude – the height she gets on her jumps – is her major advantage over her rivals, and she powered into the lead with a superb, consistent opening run to score 90.50, remaining in the lead and with more difficult tricks in her locker.

Gu put together a much better second run – successfully landing the trick she erred on in qualifying – to soar into the lead with 94.00, putting the pressure back onto Atkin.

Australian 16-year-old Indra Brown recorded the first 1080 of the day – a cork 1080, three full rotations in the air – but only scored 65.00, while Li pushed Atkin down to third with a 91.50.

Atkin soared 5.4 metres, nearly 2 metres higher than most of her rivals, into the air with her first trick but came unstuck later in the run, clipping the pipe with her skis and crashing hard, unable to improve her score.

Gu posted a 94.75 with her best run yet, reaching a height of 4 metres to maintain her position at the top of the standings and guarantee a medal.

The 22-year-old ran to hug compatriot Li after the latter completed another strong final run, posting 93.00 to put China in the top two podium spots.

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Atkin dropped into the half-pipe last, recovering after her crash to put in an excellent run, including a huge switch 900 for her final trick. Her amplitude was again miles higher than any of her rivals but it was only enough for bronze, a 92.50 – half a point off silver.

But she was delighted to make the podium and celebrated with her fellow medallists, the tears flowing as she prepared to accept her medal, while Gu dropped to the snow in joy and disbelief after defending her title.