A winter storm warning has delayed the women's freeski halfpipe final at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics by one day, affecting competitors including reigning world champion Zoe Atkin and defending Olympic champion Eileen Gu. Atkin, who qualified first, is set to challenge for gold after overcoming personal fears in the sport. The event highlights Atkin's journey and family ties in British skiing history.
The women's freeski halfpipe final, originally scheduled for Saturday at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, has been postponed due to a winter storm warning, officials announced. This delay impacts top qualifier Zoe Atkin of Great Britain, the reigning world champion, who will now face Eileen Gu, the defending Olympic gold medalist from the 2022 Beijing Games, along with other contenders like Kate Gray and Svea Irving.
Atkin, 23, born in Massachusetts to a British father and Malaysian mother, has shared her journey of embracing fear in the high-risk sport. As a child, she was intimidated by the 22-foot halfpipe walls, contrasting with her older sister Isabel 'Izzy' Atkin, Great Britain's first Olympic skiing medalist with a 2018 slopestyle bronze. 'For so long, I thought something was wrong with me,' Atkin told The Athletic in a video call before the Games.
A two-time X Games winner and Stanford University student majoring in symbolic systems, Atkin has worked with sports psychologists since 2021 to manage anxiety, injury fears, and mental blocks. She learned to reframe stress as an enhancer, drawing from cognitive science classes, including one on how beliefs shape reality. In 2025, she overcame a block with a new trick—an alley oop flat five—securing the world title despite an initial fall.
Atkin's family, including father Mike Atkin, supports her bid to make British skiing history. After a ninth-place finish in Beijing amid COVID restrictions, she took a break, started at Stanford, and refocused on enjoyment, winning her first X Games in 2023. 'I feel really mentally strong,' she said ahead of the Olympics. 'I’ve put so much work into this.'
The postponement adds uncertainty, but Atkin enters with confidence as world number one.
