Izzy is out to prove she’s a queen teen

OLYMPICS2018

IT PAYS to spend some time hanging with the cool kids at the Winter Olympics. and pushing every day in training. You can never sit back.

“My past results are definitely a confidence booster. They have certainly given me the belief that I belong and I can challenge for a medal.”

Born in Boston English father and a Malaysian mother, Atkin started skiing at three years old and was hooked.

The family moved to Utah, enrolling her in a special school whose academic year runs between April to November, so she could spend four months on the slopes.

Atkin joined the British programme shortly after and has not looked back, winning World Cup gold and world championship bronze in her debut senior season last year.

And she is considered one of the team’s best medal shots, underlining her form with a World Cup bronze in Aspen last month.

Atkin’s fan club stretches across the world, but, back in the UK, she will be cheered on by her grandmother Betty in Birmingham and aunt Jane in Surrey. And she is loving to an being part of Britain’s small team in South Korea, its atmosphere so different from the monster United States delegation with their personal chefs and no-nonsense security.

“My grandma was so happy and proud when I got the call, she probably told everyone,” said Atkin.

“It feels like a family this team, it’s so close knit, everyone knows each other’s name.

“I’m not the most outgoing person and I think I would have got lost on the US ski team, plus I also feel very British.

“I’m quite a shy person, I just express myself and my creative side when I put my skis on. That’s when my personality comes alive.”

Meanwhile, speed skater Elise Christie has vowed not to hold back in tomorrow’s short-track 1500 m. Christie was left in tears after crashing on the final lap of the 500m final and finished just outside the medals in fourth.

“I’ll still be racing fearless,” she said. “I picked myself up the next day, I even felt better that night. “I have had so much support from back home, which is incredible.

“I have heard from Jessica Ennis-Hill and Kelly Holmes. They are my two biggest heroes and it’s overwhelming they’ve messaged me.

“This is a total opposite feeling to Sochi and I feel ready to go again.”

WATCH Izzy Atkin go for her medal tomorrow at 4am on Eurosport 2. Don’t miss a moment of the Olympic Winter Games on Eurosport and Eurosport Player. Go to

www.eurosport.co.uk.