‘This was my time for redemption': Stars align for new halfpipe world champion Zoe Atkin

Independent

23-04-2025

Halfpipe skier Zoe Atkin came into this year's Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships with a bronze and a silver medal already under her belt from the previous two editions, and looking to complete the set.
A fall on her first run left her in ninth going into the crucial, all-or-nothing second run in Engadin, Switzerland. She could have wilted; instead she produced the run of a lifetime to soar into top spot and become world champion for the first time.
'The way it happened was pretty storybook, dream-come-true,' she tells The Independent. 'I had fallen on my first run and you only get two, so it was all on the line, all the pressure on me. I was stressed at the top.
'My heart was beating so fast, my legs were jello, but I was able to handle that stress by being like, I'm so excited to ski and show the world what I can do.
Recalling the exact moment she landed, she says, 'I was so happy to have landed my run under all that pressure and had all that adrenaline going through my body, I just felt so euphoric. It was so surreal because I'd been thinking and visualising that moment for so long.'
Atkin describes the season as a 'whirlwind', as she also became overall World Cup champion alongside China's Li Fanghui. It was the first time the crystal globe has ever been shared by two athletes, with both athletes picking up one victory, two second-place finishes, and a fifth place apiece this season.
Atkin, who represents Great Britain, finished fourth in the halfpipe at X Games in January, and says the 'bittersweet' experience of being just off the podium spurred her on to her first World Cup win since her breakout victory at the age of 16, in Aspen in February.
'This was my time for redemption,' she says, adding that the unexpected triumph in Colorado put her in prime position for the overall World Cup title. 'I never had goals of winning that, I felt it was so far away from me, but going into that [final] World Cup I was definitely nervous.'
Atkin had led the standings after her first run in the final World Cup of the season in Calgary, but ultimately had to settle for second on the day and joint-first overall as Li outscored her on her second run for victory.
The pair were only five points clear of reigning Olympic champion Eileen Gu on the crystal globe podium, with the depth and strength of the field making for a tense end to the season.
'I try to frame it in a positive sense,' Atkin says of the competition. 'I think about how we're all pushing the sport. You can't do that in a vacuum: there's got to be competition, there's got to be pressure, and I thrive in those moments. I hate them because they're so stressful! But that's where you unlock when you can rise to those occasions.'
Atkin, who has British and Malaysian parents but was born and raised in the US, learned to ski when she was two years old. The family moved to Park City, Utah to further her and her older sister Izzy's skiing careers.
Despite essentially growing up on skis, and always being drawn to tricks and stunts rather than more traditional disciplines, she says, 'It's interesting psychologically because I wouldn't consider myself to be a daredevil or an adrenaline junkie, which is funny considering the sport that I chose.
'But it's really precise and beautiful in the intersection of athleticism and artistry, and all these qualities coming together. I think that's really exciting to watch and be part of. And it feels like flying: it's just an amazing feeling.'
Her success this year has been all the more remarkable considering she contemplated giving up skiing after the Winter Olympics in 2022, when she finished a frustrating ninth in the half-pipe, having put herself under pressure to follow in Izzy's footsteps and win a medal. The older Atkin secured Britain's first-ever British Olympic medal in skiing with slopestyle bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018.
Atkin says the success she experienced at a very young age, coupled with the 'lingering disappointment' of the Olympics, held under the shadow of Covid-19, made her question her future. She stuck it out and the highs of 2023 – she won X Games gold for the first time – gave her the 'boost of confidence' she needed.
Her path back to the top of the sport hasn't been linear, with the cycle of competing taking its toll on her last season.
'Maintaining that level year after year can definitely be quite exhausting. There's a lot of pressure,' she says, admitting that she didn't give herself enough time off and burnt out. That meant she had to lower her expectations for this season, and return to the idea of building her confidence once again.
Atkin explains that her attitude at the start of this season was, 'It's not about winning every competition, it's about, what's a small thing I can do to get 1 per cent better today. You take a bunch of those steps and then you realise how far you've come.'
She says that taking a step back and concentrating on the things she can control has given her perspective. 'I'm a big believer that there's no failing: every failure is an opportunity to grow and learn something from it. An appreciation for both the highs and the lows, and being able to learn from disappointing times and come back from them – I think that mindset is a testament of being a true athlete.'
Atkin juggles her career as a skier with studying at Stanford University, where she has been taking psychology classes, and credits those with influencing her approach to skiing, particularly the mental block that she finds when grappling with new tricks.
'Some tricks come easily but something that maybe people don't know about action sports athletes is that it is scary and we are scared,' she says. 'That [apparent] ease of performance comes from a million repetitions behind the scenes that you don't see.
'I feel like [taking psychology classes] has been very helpful for me in understanding the biological processes behind fear and being able to reframe them as positive feelings: feelings that help you perform and give you that edge that you need to complete these scary manoeuvres.'
Her philosophical approach is one that has been honed over time. The 22-year-old is already something of a veteran on the World Cup circuit, having competed since she was just 15.
'Every time I do an interview it's after a big result and you get all the credit, but all those days that you're training, there's no pat on the back, you have to wait and hope for the gratification and the result that's going to come,' she says.
'Everyone sees that end result, but not necessarily all the times that I've fallen. When I was younger I just wanted the accolades next to my name. Now with my experience and perspective as I'm getting a little bit older, I'm appreciating the process a bit more.'
Her attention now turns to the Olympic season, with the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina on the horizon – only ten months away – and her phenomenal season coming at the best possible time. She admits she has big goals for the Games, but keeps them under wraps for now, only saying, 'I definitely would love to ski at my fullest potential, but I also would really like to enjoy the experience.'