Five 2022/23 World Cup podium holders have been named in a 13 athlete British squad who will travel to Bakuriani for the 2023 Freestyle World Championships this month

Zoe Atkin (Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Gold, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Superpipe Gold), Mia Brookes (Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Laax), Makayla Gerken-Schofield (Dual Moguls World Cup Bronze, Val St. Come), Kirsty Muir (Freeski Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Slopestyle Bronze; X Games Big Air Bronze) and reigning World Champion Charlotte Bankes (Snowboard Cross World Cup Gold, Cervinia and Cortina, World Cup Bronze Cervinia) headline a squad that features two debutants in Brookes and Beijing 2022 Snowboard Cross Olympian Huw Nightingale.

Freeski

A four-person Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air squad brings a collective 15 World Championships under their belts with 2019 Slopestyle World Champion, James Woods, lining up alongside Tyler Harding in his fourth World Championships, Chris McCormick competing for the third time and Kirsty Muir in her second Championships. Zoe Atkin, meanwhile, will compete in her third World Championships in Freeski Halfpipe, having taken bronze in the 2021 Championships in Aspen.

Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale will reprise their Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the Snowboard Cross Team Event, while Bankes will be looking to defend the World Championships title she secured at the 2021 World Championships in Idre Fjall.

In Ski Cross, Ollie Davies will be the sole British representative on his third World Championships, having taken an exceptional fourth place at the 2021 Idre Fjall Championships.

Freestyle Snowboard

On her World Championships debut, Mia Brookes will be the sole British Freestyle Snowboard competitor, where she is set to compete in both the Slopestyle and Big Air competitions. Brookes comes into the Championships on the back of an outstanding debut World Cup season which has seen her notch three top-10 finishes, including a silver medal at her last World Cup in Laax in January.

Moguls

The Moguls competitions will Makayla Gerken-Schofield, Will Feneley, Tom Gerken-Schofield and Mateo Jeannesson representing British interests, in a season which has seen Makayla Gerken-Schofield take the first World Cup podium of her career, Jeannesson break into the World Cup top-20 for the first time, and Feneley match his best ever World Cup result with an eighth place finish in Dual Moguls at this month’s Deer Valley World Cup. The team will be looking to Tom Gerken-Schofield’s sixth place at the 2021 Almaty World Championships for inspiration with a rich combination of experience and form to draw on from the season to date. 

Freestyle Snowboarders Maisie Hill and Katie Ormerod, both of whom met selection qualification criteria, miss out on the Championships through injury.

The Bakuriani Freestyle World Championships begin on 18 February with the first British athlete due to be in action on 23 February, with the Ski Cross Qualification rounds.

Full Squad Selections

Snowboard Cross

• Charlotte Bankes
• Huw Nightingale

Ski Cross

• Ollie Davies

Freeski – Slopestyle and Big Air

• Tyler Harding
• Chris McCormick
• Kirsty Muir
• James Woods

Freeski – Halfpipe

• Zoe Atkin

Freestyle Snowboard – Slopestyle and Big Air

• Mia Brookes

Moguls

• Will Feneley
• Makayla Gerken-Schofield
• Tom Gerken-Schofield
• Mateo Jeannesson

Header Image: Kirsty Muir competes during the Women’s Freeski Big Air Finals on day three of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort on December 16, 2022 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)