What a difference four years makes.
Following a ninth-place finish at her debut Games in Beijing aged just 19, Zoe Atkin seriously considered her freestyle skiing career.
The internal pressures had reached breaking point for the young talent during her bid to follow in the footsteps of sister Izzy, who won Team GB’s first-ever skiing medal at Pyeongchang in 2018 when she claimed bronze.
But after stepping back from competition to enrol at Stanford University and to travel around Europe with her sibling during the summer of 2022, the 23-year-old admitted the year-long break allowed her to mature as a person, which in turn, sparked her assault on the summit of her sport.
Now Atkin heads to northern Italy for her second Games as a genuine gold medal “threat”.
“There was a lot of uncertainty after those Games,” she said. “I didn't perform the way I wanted to, which left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was unsure how I was feeling about skiing.
“But it felt like a really big decision to [fully] step back, so I decided to give myself an ultimatum that I was going to [compete the following] season and have fun with it. If things didn't go the way I wanted them to and I didn't enjoy it, then I would have retired.
“However, that was the year that I ended up winning at the X Games and that really gave me a lot of confidence.
“I had so much fun at university. It was good for me. It helped me develop myself outside of my skiing and that helped me dive into skiing with a more process-oriented mindset rather than thinking about results.
“That allowed me to establish myself as one of the top competitors. I'm definitely a threat going into these Games, so I'm excited to go and show the world what I can do.”
Atkin’s new-found approach has since delivered the Massachusetts-born Brit considerable success, with her becoming both the halfpipe world champion and joint-winner of the World Cup Crystal Globe in 2025.
In order for Atkin to add Olympic gold to her impressive collection, it is likely that she’ll have to overcome defending champion Eileen Gu, who shot to prominence after winning two golds in 2022 whilst representing China.
But Atkin is confident in her preparation and feels she has the beating of anyone she comes up against.
“I definitely think I've got what it takes [to win gold],” she added. “There are so many amazing skiers in the women's field, it could be stressful if I think too much about it though. For me, I’m focusing on what I can control and the run I'm working towards.
“At the end of the day, it is just another ski competition, and that's kind of how I'm thinking about it. I'd love to put down a run that I'm proud of and to stand on the podium at such a global event.”
Sportsbeat 2025