Latest news with #KirstyMuir
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
‘I knew I'd come back no matter what': Freestyle skier Kirsty Muir charts her return to the top
Kirsty Muir was in the form of her life when the ground was ripped from under her feet. The talented Scottish freestyle skier, who competes in the slopestyle and Big Air disciplines, secured two World Cup podiums in the first half of the 2023-24 season and was on course for a best-ever campaign. One of those podiums was in the Big Air in Copper Mountain, US in December 2023. She picked up bronze – but the 19-year-old was also troubled by a niggle in her knee. On her return home, an MRI revealed she had in fact ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and sustained meniscus damage. Over a year on the sidelines, including surgery on both the knee and an existing shoulder injury, followed. Her return to action this January was 'emotional', the Aberdeen native tells The Independent, but it was almost as if she had never left, as she qualified for both finals in her first competition back, in Aspen, Colorado. 'Luckily when you're skiing you have goggles so no-one could see I was crying a little bit when I first got back!' she says. 'But it was all from happiness. I was over the moon, quite overwhelmed. 'There were so many different aspects: I hadn't seen my friends in a long time, I hadn't had the adrenaline and the nerves of a comp. Even just comp training is stressful so I had a lot going on in my brain.' But having spent 14 months out of action, neither she nor her team put pressure on her return, and she says the season has '100%' exceeded her expectations. 'Mostly it was just seeing how I'd get on,' she says of her approach to this campaign. 'We obviously knew that this year was the Olympic qualification year so that was one thing on our checklist, trying to get the results to put towards that. 'At that point when [the ACL tear] happened I really did feel like it was the best I'd ever been at. It was a shock to the system for sure. So to come back, and to have got a few [events under her belt], it does make it all feel worth it.' Just two months into her comeback she hit another milestone, notching a first-ever World Cup win with slopestyle gold in Tignes, France. Victory was a 'confidence boost,' but she adds that more importantly, 'You can always have doubts during a rehab that you won't come back as strong, so that eliminated all the doubts. I really did feel like I was properly back and ready to fight at the competitions again.' She set the score to beat in qualifying, and by the time she was in the start gate for her second run – as the last athlete to go – she already knew she had won. 'It was a crazy feeling, I hugged my physio and coach at the top, and got to do a victory lap, which you don't get to do very often! It was unreal, I had the biggest smile on my face.' She adds that while the business end of the competition went well, it required a pep talk from Freeski head coach Jamie Matthew to put her in the right frame of mind to make it to the finals. 'I had the most terrible training ever [before qualification], I hadn't even put a run down that I wanted,' she recollects. 'You only get 45 minutes to an hour and that's maybe four, five, six runs, and that's not much to warm up. I got into the gate [for qualifying] and was really nervous and Jamie was like, 'you don't need to be, if you don't get a run down, it's whatever'. 'He managed to reset me a little bit. It felt like it all came together and I really wasn't thinking too much, which was the best scenario!' Even aged 20 Muir is a seasoned competitor, winning three elite national titles at 13 and going to the 2022 Winter Olympics as GB's youngest athlete, at 17, which she described as a 'surreal' experience. Muir qualified for both the slopestyle and Big Air finals, finishing eighth and fifth respectively, and has high hopes of a podium finish this year. 'I'm excited because I feel like I'll really get the Olympic experience this time,' she says. 'I think it'll feel completely different, but I'll also have a bit of experience from the last one as well.' Muir made her debut on the World Cup circuit aged 15 and recalls, 'I was quite nervous and timid, so I kind of kept to myself. Around the [Beijing] Olympics and just after I came out of my shell a bit. 'I feel like I always used to be so in my own bubble, I was so stressed. I didn't hate it but I didn't enjoy the comps as much as I could have. I'm not just skiing to compete, I'm skiing to have a good time and do what I really want to do. 'So I'm trying to get a good balance between having pressure on myself and being a competitor, because I very much am hard on myself when I'm competing, but also trying to take it chill and enjoy it, because I feel like when I'm more focused on the slope then I ski better.' Muir adds that the adversity she experienced in her long spell on the sidelines has also helped her come back stronger. Her ACL injury was different from that of many athletes, who hear the tell-tale popping sound and instantly realise what's happened. She only discovered the extent of the issue because she already had an MRI booked for her existing shoulder problem. 'You hear about the sound that it makes and they're immediately in agony, but for me, it's like it could have happened at any point, or it could have happened gradually over time, just with the impact of our sport,' the 20-year-old says. 'We do a lot of gym work and we kind of put [the fact that it initially went unnoticed] down to my muscles being able to compensate for it. I went home and got the MRI just in case, but if I hadn't, I would have continued the season, having done all the gym work. 'It was definitely difficult to have the double rehab. Your body uses so much energy to heal something and because it was split, I feel like it took a bit longer to heal than it could have.' Muir tried to 'find who I am outside of skiing' during her long rehab process and appreciate the rare downtime she was offered. She found she loved mountain biking, which had the added bonus of aiding with her return to skiing. 'I could get on the bike way sooner than I could get on skis, and it kind of replicated the flow and feeling you get on skis with the mountain bike jumps. That's something I still do now every time I'm home.' The road back to full fitness took its toll, but she never questioned her future in the sport. 'There were never points when I was like, I'm not going to go back to skiing, but you always think, 'will my knee be strong enough, will I feel back to normal', all these things. Because during the rehab it does feel weird – it doesn't even feel like your knee sometimes. 'But I always knew I'd be coming back to skiing no matter what, because that's the thing I love the most. The feeling of missing skiing spurs you on to keep pushing back to it. If you didn't love the sport you wouldn't have the motivation to get through it.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kirsty Muir on her injury setback, returning better than ever and her Olympic dreams
Even in her wildest dreams, Kirsty Muir couldn't have imagined her comeback going quite as smoothly as this. She was, though, surely due some good fortune. As a teenager, the Aberdonian was widely recognised as one of the most promising freestyle skiers on the planet. She became British senior champion at 13, made her World Cup debut at 15, her Olympic debut at 17 and become an X Games medallist at 19. She had, it seemed, the world at her feet. But elite sport rarely follows the script, which Muir found out to her cost. Just days before Christmas 2023, the Scot went for a routine scan having suffered from knee pain and the results could not have been more shocking. She was told she'd torn her ACL - one of the most severe injuries in sport, and career-ending for some. Muir was faced with a year off her skis which was, at the time, she admits, almost impossible to process. 'I found out on the 23rd of December '23 that I'd torn my ACL, and there was definitely a few days of not fully acknowledging the news - it was a bit of a shock to the system to find out how serious it was,' she says. 'So I had to let it sink in. But then, by the new year, I was ready to just get on with it. I knew that I needed to think as positively as I could, because if I wasn't motivated, I wouldn't be able to do the rehab that was needed.' Kirsty Muir's World Cup success came sooner than she thought possible after her injury lay-off (Image: Getty Images) Muir threw herself into her recovery - she also underwent a shoulder operation during her time out - and finally, last November, she was ready to set foot on snow once again. She may not have quite returned to the level of a novice skier, but her first moments back on skis were tentative, to say the least. It wasn't long, however, before Muir was back to something resembling her old self. 'For a few months before I was actually allowed, I was absolutely desperate to get back on the snow,' the Red Bull athlete says. 'My first time back on the skis in November was definitely a bit wobbly. I hadn't forgotten completely how to ski, but it certainly wasn't the standard you'd want. 'My coach told me afterwards I was skiing so terribly on that first day back. And I had to just say, yeah, fair comment. 'But even by the end of that first day, I was skiing a lot better. And by the time I was back in the park, in December, it all felt normal again.' Muir's return to competition at the start of 2025 came with few expectations, but it quickly became apparent that the 20-year-old had lost none of her competitive instinct during her year on the sidelines. Even she, though, could not have imagined just how quickly she would return to truly world class form. Pre-injury, Muir had grabbed a spot on World Cup podiums four times, ensuring she knew her best was good enough to compete with the world's elite. But given her return to competition was still in its infancy, she headed into last month's World Cup event in Tignes with little pressure upon her shoulders. That she ultimately departed France with her first-ever World Cup victory having won the slopestyle event was both a thrilling and heartening moment for the Scot. 'It was pretty crazy to get back into competition and feel the adrenaline again- it was even more of a rush than before, just because it had been so long,' she says. 'Winning a World Cup has been a goal of mine since before I was even in World Cup events so to actually do it is a dream come true for me. 'Coming back from an injury, and I think this is the case for most athletes, there was some doubts about whether I'd be able to get back to the same level I was at before, or push further. So for me, to be able to do better than I've ever done and get the win was a big confidence boost and it proved to myself that I am going to be able to get fully back.' Muir is currently in the midst of her FIS Freestyle World Championship campaign - she finished sixth in the slopestyle final last week while the Big Air event is this week with qualification today before the final on Saturday. This World Championships is the final event of the season before Muir heads into a training block and summer 2025 will be considerably different to that of a year ago, during which her injury meant she was mountain biking and spending time with family and friends rather than up a mountain. And so Muir is under no illusions as to how important the next few months are to ensure she heads into the new season in as good shape as possible. In eleven months, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will kick off and after Muir being Team GB's youngest athlete at Beijing 2022, she will, all going to plan, go into her second Winter Olympics with considerably more expectation upon her shoulders. However, Muir, whose persona oozes calmness, is refusing to get too hyped-up about the potential for Olympic success next year. 'I definitely already have an eye on the Olympics - I've got some things I want to work on in the next year so I can go into Milan with a chance of doing well. I go into every comp wanting to put down the best run I can and obviously the Olympics will be no different," she says. 'Everyone goes into the Olympics hoping for a podium so I just want to focus on doing my best and hopefully that will be enough.' It's this laid-back approach that's likely to serve her well as she continues her ascent to the top of the freestyle skiing ranks. Find Kirsty Muir's Red Bull athlete page here:
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Results since return from injury fuel Muir belief
Winter Olympic freestyle skier Kirsty Muir says her results since she came back from a long-term injury show she can challenge for the sport's biggest prizes, adding: "I just need to believe that."The 20-year-old Scot recently returned from a knee injury, which sidelined her for almost a she is back with a bang, winning her first ever World Cup competition in France earlier this followed that with a solid sixth-placed finish in the ski slopestyle event at the FIS Freeski World Championships in Switzerland at the is hugely encouraging with next year's Winter Olympics in Italy on the horizon."Each event is a different event but obviously it just helps me out a little bit, it just shows me that I really can do it and I just need to believe that," Muir told BBC Scotland."The competition mindset came [back] quite easily but it was almost like I was thinking too far ahead sometimes, I was trying to think about the end result of what I wanted and then that would then affect my skiing so we were just bringing it back, being in the moment, me and the course."I want to do the best I can in my run and not think about anyone else or any other thing, so that is one thing we have been doing, my coaches have been trying to get me back to the present moment and focus on what I am doing."They have been really good with that and just supporting me and making me believe that I can do all these tricks and stuff, so there is a lot of support from them." 'Time off makes it even more special' Muir will also compete in the big air event at the World Championships later this week and the Aberdonian admits to being surprised at how well she has done after such a long spell out."Yes, definitely," she said. "Even the first couple of competitions we went in with no expectations or pressure and I managed to make finals, which was really cool."Since then each competition I have been progressing more in my own skiing and my tricks and that has kind of been shown through my results too, so yes, overall very happy with it."We worked really hard last year, it was all worth it, that is what was helping me through the rehab was thinking to these moments when I knew I would be having a great time. I am back here and very happy about it."Muir was the youngest member of Team GB at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, where she made the finals in both the women's slopestyle and big air she has returned to the snow with a greater appreciation for being able to do what she loves."I never expected to have such a long time off skiing because it is my main thing in my life that I love doing, so I think overall I definitely appreciate it more," she added. "Time off makes it even more special."Even my coach when [the injury] first happened was joking, 'Kirsty Muir 2.0 incoming', but we will keep that as the idea maybe.'Overall I am just enjoying everything."
Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Kirsty Muir interview: I made podium in ski final – with a torn ACL
With one run to go in a Freeski Big Air World Cup in late 2023, Kirsty Muir decided to go for it, despite minor knee pain, and claimed a place on the podium. Two days later she discovered she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament and would be forced to spend the next year away from the slopes. 'I landed my final and third run and managed to get third, which was really cool, but then I went home and got a scan,' Muir tells Telegraph Sport from a hotel room in Geneva before this month's Freestyle World Championships in St Moritz. 'I was already getting a shoulder MRI scan because I had a bit of an issue with that and then decided to just get my knee scanned as well to be safe. 'It was quite a shock when I found out that I had fully torn my ACL, because I just didn't expect it – I was walking fine and doing the gym and everything totally normally. So it was just a bit of a shock.' The following 12 months would be spent in the gym painstakingly building up to a return to the slopes. She was forced to watch her fellow athletes compete at the X Games while it took her two weeks just to be able to do a single leg lift. It would be another four weeks before she could put weight on the injured leg properly, as life became all about the 'small wins'. Speaking from her hotel lobby after encountering WiFi problems, she admits: 'I am very much an adrenalin seeker and I need something fun all the time so it was quite difficult to take a step back and just stop and stuff, so that was difficult but I just told myself that was part of it and I'd be back to doing it soon. Luckily I did find ways during the rehab to still find some fun, but it was difficult to not ski for a year.' Talking about her extensive recovery, Muir believes she has to be even stronger than she was previously in order to try to prevent a similar injury occurring in future. Returning to the slopes was always the goal and recalling how she felt when that was finally a reality, Muir grins as she says: 'It was so so good, honestly, I just had the biggest smile on my face. 'It was so fun. I still had to build a bit more strength in my hamstring so we did just two weeks of normal skiing, just drills and feeling it out.' After going home to build more hamstring strength, Muir could finally return to the snow park, which she describes as 'the best thing ever'. When asked if the return made her feel like a kid again, she responds: 'Honestly I couldn't have been happier at that time, it was just so good.' From when she was a small child following her brother down the slopes of Glenshee and The Lecht in her native Scotland, skiing has been a central part of Muir's life. Aged 11, she enjoyed a first trip to the snow parks in the mountains having had to 'make the most of every opportunity' to travel because of the high cost, as Scotland's diminishing snow makes it difficult to do sufficient slope training. Instead, Muir uncovered her skill largely on the dry slopes at home during her formative years. It was in 2022 that Muir burst on to the scene when she became Team GB's youngest competitor at the Beijing Winter Olympics, then aged just 17. She reached the final of both the freestyle and Big Air events, finishing fifth in the latter.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Kirsty Muir relishing crack at second Winter Olympics after serious knee injury
Kirsty Muir starred as Great Britain's youngest competitor at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing before jetting straight home to finish her Highers at school just outside Aberdeen. Then aged just 17, the freestyle skier had dazzled on her debut, reaching the finals of both her events and placing fifth in the women's Big Air competition, behind the all-conquering Chinese superstar Eileen Gu. Yet three years on, Muir regards her experience in Beijing as a distant memory – hardly surprising given the obstacles she has faced in her quest to reach her second Games in Milan and Cortina, which get under way on February 6 next year. Muir returned to top-level competition this month for the first time in over year, having spent the entirety of 2024 on the sidelines after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in a crash in December 2023. Two surgeries and 14 months later, Muir marked her return by reaching the final of the women's slopestyle competition at the World Cup in Aspen, Colorado. 'It was really difficult to be away from the circuit for such a long time and I missed so many of my friends, but these sort of setbacks give you the motivation to push through and get back to where I want to be,' Muir told the PA news agency. 'I only got back on skis in November last year and started in the park the following month. I went to Aspen with the mindset of enjoying myself and not having expectations. It was great to feel all those comp nerves again and it was a real confidence boost to make finals at the first attempt.' Muir is no stranger to the big occasion, having won a series of junior medals including silver at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, then gone on to land a pair of prestigious X Games gold medals at the 2023 competition on the back of her Beijing breakthrough. Her success was all the more impressive given the need to juggle her schedule around her ongoing education, and she admits the prospect of a homework-free build-up to Milan and Cortina will allow her to place extra focus on nailing new medal-worthy tricks and routines. 'It's different now not having to go home from training and get to school and having all that extra stress,' the 20-year-old said. 'I'm glad I did it so that I could get some good results for whatever I want to do in the future, but it's so good just to be able to focus on my skiing now. 'I feel like since Beijing I've grown up and progressed more with the sport, I travel and ski full-time now, and I feel I've found my place in the sport alongside all my friends. 'I'm really in the zone where I just want to go and enjoy myself and I think the next Olympics will feel 100% different. My family will be able to come out there, it won't be in Covid, and there will be a lot of positives but I will have the experience of Beijing to help me along.' Muir is set to be just one of a number of realistic medal contenders in the women's freeski and snowboard programme, including the history-making 18-year-old snowboard world champion Mia Brookes, and snowboard star Katie Ormerod, who overcame a career-threatening injury to compete in Beijing. 'Seeing people like Katie come back and do better tricks gives you the motivation for how you can overcome injury and become even better,' Muir continued. 'People always said that the setbacks give you that extra drive to succeed and that's certainly something I'm discovering now.'
