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Atkin fifth in Halfpipe season opener

Zoe Atkin and Liam Richards both made a strong start to Olympic qualification at the Cardrona Freeski Halfpipe World Cup

Amid challenging weather conditions that led to late changes to the competition schedule, Zoe Atkin and Liam Richards both made a solid start to the season with fifth and 17th place finishes at the Cardrona Halfpipe World Cup.

For Atkin, whose summer training plans were heavily disrupted by poor weather across her training camps, the result marks a tenth consecutive top-10 World Cup finish in a strong field which includes some of the biggest names in Women’s Freeski Halfpipe. Qualifying in fourth place, Atkin’s Final score of 83.75 was only half a point behind the USA’s Svea Irving, who finished in fourth.

16-year-old Richards, meanwhile, was making his British competition debut and only his third ever World Cup appearance. A strong qualification performance was enough to land his best result yet at World Cup level, and propel him to the best British male Halfpipe World Cup result since Gus Kenworthy’s fifteenth place at Aspen World Cup in 2021.

Header Image: Neil Kerr