
British Skier Conquers Fear to Become World Champion
Zoe Atkin turned her biggest fear into her greatest strength, becoming a world champion in ski halfpipe while studying how the brain processes fear at Stanford. Now she's leading Team GB into the Winter Olympics with a medal-worthy mindset.
Flying 40 feet above a halfpipe takes more than athletic skill. It takes mastering the voice in your head that screams "don't do it."
Zoe Atkin knows that voice well. The 23-year-old British freestyle skier launches herself out of a 22-foot deep halfpipe, performing aerial tricks that would make most people freeze in terror. But she's learned something powerful: understanding fear is the secret to beating it.
"The biggest challenge of my sport is definitely overcoming fear," says Atkin, who competes in ski halfpipe where millimeters can mean the difference between a medal and a hospital visit. She studies symbolic systems at Stanford University, exploring how machines simulate the brain, and the knowledge has transformed her approach to competition.
Atkin discovered that her worst fear isn't competition day. It's training, when she's learning new tricks and uncertainty takes over. So she started meditating every morning, training her mind to stay present instead of spiraling into "what if I fall?"
The strategy is working. This season, Atkin became world champion and landed on the podium at every World Cup event, including a win at Copper Mountain and gold at the X Games. She heads to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics as a genuine medal contender.

Her teammate Kirsty Muir, who competes in slopestyle and big air, understands the mental battle too. After tearing her cruciate ligament in 2023, she spent a year recovering and had to confront new fears about returning to the sport.
"I've been flying through the air without skis on my feet," Muir says, describing moments when equipment fails mid-jump. "That is a weird feeling." Her solution? Accept that crashes happen and train to fall safely.
Why This Inspires
Both athletes prove that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's deciding that growth matters more than comfort. They've turned one of the most dangerous Olympic sports into a laboratory for mental strength, showing that the brain can be trained just like any muscle.
Atkin practices "air awareness" during training, learning how to land safely when tricks go wrong. She reframes unhelpful thoughts and distinguishes between real risks and imagined ones. The mental preparation has become as crucial as physical training.
Her journey follows in the footsteps of her sister Izzy, who won Britain's first Olympic skiing medal in 2018. Watching from the stands that day planted a seed that's now blossoming into her own Olympic moment.
These athletes aren't adrenaline junkies chasing thrills. They're precise, calculated performers who've learned to push past comfort zones while respecting genuine danger. Their secret? Accepting that fear is part of progress, then doing it anyway.
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Based on reporting by BBC Sport
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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