Atkin soars to brilliant World Championship bronze in Aspen

Zoe Atkin soared to a brilliant first major medal of her career by claiming halfpipe bronze at the Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Aspen.

Atkin, 18, delivered a dazzling performance in Colorado to notch a best score of 90.5 and achieve a memorable podium finish.

Two-time X Games champion Ailing Gu took gold with a haul of 93 points while Canada's Rachael Karker, a three-time X Games medallist, finished second to deny Atkin silver with a score of 91.75.

Atkin is the younger sister of Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist Izzy Atkin and showed exactly why she is hotly tipped to star at the Beijing Games next year.

Her best score of 90.5 was achieved in the final of her three runs and marked Great Britain’s maiden medal of the 2021 World Championships.

Home favourites Hanna Faulhaber and Brita Sigourney finished fourth and fifth respectively in Friday's halfpipe final.

Izzy Atkin, meanwhile, was unable to qualify for the final having only recovered from a concussion she suffered at the X Games in January.

GB’s 2019 world champion James Woods and Kirsty Muir, a Winter Youth Olympic silver medallist, will take to the Aspen slopes on Saturday to compete in their slopestyle finals. Sportsbeat 2021