Winter Olympics 2026: How do extreme skiers overcome the fear of serious injury?

Zoe’s sister Izzy won slopestyle bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018.

It gave Britain its first skiing medal at the Winter Olympics.

16 years after Ellen Baxter lost my slalom bronze When he failed a drug test after using an over-the-counter nasal decongestant that he believed was permitted.

Zoe was watching from the stands with her parents in South Korea eight years ago, and her sister’s accomplishments inspired her to pursue her skiing career.

“Working with a sports psychologist has been important – when I was younger, I used to feel more intense fear, which hindered performance,” says Atkin.

“I’m still quite young, but internally there were many expectations of what I wanted to achieve.”

She is entering the Games as the reigning world champion and has achieved podium finishes at every World Cup this season, including a win at Copper Mountain and a gold medal at the X Games.

“Now that I’ve won things, surely I shouldn’t be afraid and I should be confident?” She says.

“But no matter how established you are, you always need a comfort zone to progress. It’s always a constant progression, a journey that I have now fully embraced.”

Atkin has been fortunate in that she escaped serious injuries, unlike her sister, who broke her pelvis just before the 2022 Winter Olympics and has since retired from competitive skiing.

GB teammate Kirsty Muir also suffered serious injuries.

The 21-year-old competes in ski slopestyle and big air. She rides on train tracks and performs tricks on big ramps.

She is well aware of the horrors of serious injury while on duty.

In December 2023, a scan revealed that he had torn the cruciate ligament in his knee due to repeated strikes, ruling him out for a year.

Muir, who has “never skied for so long in my life,”, says she is fit and preparing for Milan-Cortina – but admits the road back was tough.

“The game is constantly progressing, so it was difficult to take so much time off,” Muir tells BBC Sport.

Muir has won World Cup competitions in ski slopestyle and big air this season and also has a win at the X Games, but the occasional crash landing is nothing new to her.

The key to overcoming those fears, she says, is to accept that they will occur.

“The injury wasn’t the scariest thing for me because it didn’t happen at a specific time,” she says. “It happens more when things get out of your control.

“When I’m going to jump, the skis come off my feet or my goggles come over my eyes, and I’m flying through the air with no skis on my feet. It’s a weird feeling.

“We are adept at adjusting to situations, not thinking about it until it happens. There is no point in worrying – be prepared, then adapt.”