Katie’s aiming for dream gold
Starts Friday
HOPKINSON
REPORTING
KATIE ORMEROD grew up snowboarding on a plastic slope in Halifax. But if the 24-year-old can land the Olympic gong she so craves in the Slopestyle or Big Air events then, despite her injury-hit start, there won’t be a major event in her chosen field in which she hasn’t won a medal.
She is an 11-timeworld Cup medallist, a Big Air world champion, has a bronze medal from the prestigious Laax
Open and is an X Games bronze medallist.
And, in 2020, she became the first British winner of the Crystal Globe when she was crowned Overallworld Cup Slopestyle champion.
“I absolutely love all the medals I’ve got, I pretty much have everything except an Olympic medal, so that would definitely be nice to add to the collection,” said
Ormerod, who was forced out of the 2018
Games in South Korea with a career-threatening heel injury just two days before they started.
“In my comeback season,
I had the best season of my career, with five World Cup podiums, three Yellow Bibs and my first Crystal Globe.
“That in itself would have been really amazing regardless of having 18
CHEMMY ALCOTT has no doubt Dave Ryding can follow up his historic World Cup slalom victory in Kitzbuhel with Winter Games glory.
Ryding, 35, (right) became the first Brit to win an alpine World Cup event when he triumphed in the fabled Austrian ski town.
And former Olympic skier
Alcott said: “What Dave has done is huge for skiing in Britain.
“It is difficult and challenging to be a ski racer from the UK, it can take a lot of sacrifice. But Dave has gone out there and shown first of all that it’s worth it, it’s possible, and secondly what he has done will open months off with injury, but because of that it feels even nicer that I came back and did that.
“It was also the first Olympic qualifying year and since then I have had good results as well, so I’m definitely going into Beijing in really good shape and feeling really confident.
“Now I’m just hoping I can land the best runs and see what result I can get.
“Women’s snowboarding now is really exciting because the progression is going up and up. Because of that, every girl at the Olympics has a chance to podium.
“It means I’m going to have to produce my best run ever but I’ve had some really good results over the last few years so I know it’s possible.
“I’m so proud of the fact I’ve come from snowboarding on plastic slopes to competing at the Olympic Games.
“Hopefully my story will have inspired others to get involved in snowboarding and prove it is doable.”
Ormerod added: “There’s definitely a bit of craziness in the athletes. But it’s just part of my personality. I’ve always wanted to push myself, push the limits – and even push the whole sport.”
the door for so many more people to get into the sport.
“There are probably 15 different guys who could go to Beijing and win gold, and one of those is definitely Dave Ryding.”
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be on BBC TV, BBC iplayer, radio and online from Friday.