Siblings Izzy and Zoe Atkin set for realisation of childhood dream

“Can’t wait to live out my dream with u,” enthused 19-year-old Zoe Atkin in the comments section of an Instagram post uploaded by her sister, Izzy, 23, on 6 February, two days into the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The American-born siblings had both been selected to compete for Team GB courtesy of their British father, in freestyle skiing – big air and slopestyle for Izzy and halfpipe for Zoe – and Atkin the elder had posted a video update of her past few months. Hardly the best preparation, Izzy had broken her pelvis just seven weeks before the Games, so had only just made it to the People’s Republic of China at all.

The PyeongChang 2018 slopestyle bronze medallist, who was also the first Brit to stand on the podium at the Olympics, World Championships, World Cup and X Games, was keen for her younger sibling to join her at an Olympic Winter Games, a dream for the pair since they were little. But she must have imagined it as more of a nurturing role toward her younger sibling, showing her the ropes, rather than head down and focusing on her race to fitness.

"I know my Olympic dream is going to look a little different this time around,” said Izzy on her post, “but given where I was less than a month ago I will be stoked to even be able to ski in Beijing.

"All the doctors said my timeline would be impossibly ambitious but I’ve been giving rehab everything I’ve got (and every supplement you can buy for bone health) and I’m so proud to be back on my skis six weeks later."

Sadly, not only did Izzy have to withdraw from the big air event, which took place early in the schedule, by 11 Feburary, the day before she was due to take part in the qualifiers for slopestyle, the race to fitness was lost. Izzy would not be