Although Team GB’s Katie Ormerod was left disappointed after she finished 25th in qualification for the women’s snowboard Big Air, as only the top 12 progressing to the final, her appearance in the Beijing Olympics marked a welcome return following a serious injury which almost ended her career.
Katie Ormerod
The 24-year-old was competing at the Olympics after breaking her heel in training four years ago during the winter games in in PyeongChang.
Katie said: “I decided to go for my cab 9 as I knew I needed that to go into the finals. Unfortunately I just didn’t quite make it to the landing.
“To compete I had to overcome so many demons to even get to the start gate knowing that four years ago I almost ended my career in an accident at the Olympics.
“It was really challenging to do that and I worked so hard over the last four years to get back here and prove that it is possible to come back from a bad injury and realise my dream of competing at an Olympics.
“The thing I wanted to do here was to inspire back home and show how fun snowboarding is and I know I have already done that from the messages I’ve got.”
The serious injury that required seven operations and 18 months of rehab. Katie added: “You saw the relief on my face after slopestyle, it was just the biggest relief because I knew my injury was gone. That’s in the past now, it’s part of my story and my history but I can move on fully now and look forward knowing I’ve done my best here. I was gutted not to make it through to the finals but I still tried my hardest.
“I’ve learned that I can overcome anything. I’m a lot stronger than I even thought before coming here. I knew that I’d done amazingly to just even qualify. Even qualifying itself is not easy because you’ve seen the standard of riding, it’s high.”