Atkin wins halfpipe bronze for Team GB's fifth medal

Atkin wins halfpipe bronze for Team GB's fifth medal By Katie Falkingham BBC Sport senior journalist in Livigno Published 37 minutes ago Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin won bronze in the women's halfpipe to secure Great Britain's fifth medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, equalling the team's record-best haul. The 23-year-old had already secured a medal when she dropped into the pipe for her final run and, with the pressure off, improved her score to 92.50 - just half a point shy of silver medal position. China's global superstar Eileen Gu won gold, her first of these Games after two silvers, with 94.75, while compatriot Li Fanghui took silver. In winning bronze, Atkin matches the achievement of her sister Izzy, who won Team GB's first Olympic medal on skis with slopestyle bronze in Pyeongchang eight years ago. With five medals secured - three golds, one silver and now a bronze - Team GB have matched the record hauls they achieved in Sochi in 2014 and the 2018 Games in South Korea. But this was the team's most successful Winter Olympics the moment Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale secured the second of those golds in the mixed team snowboard cross exactly a week ago. Never before had Great Britain won more than one gold at a single Winter Games. Atkin came into her second Olympics as the reigning world champion, eager to improve on the ninth-place finish she achieved on her debut in Beijing four years ago. She had qualified top of the standings for the final, which was postponed to Sunday morning after heavy snowfall in Livigno the previous day. There she remained after the first run, with a score of 90.50, after Gu - the defending champion - had fallen on her opening trick. On the second run, the roles reversed. Gu vastly improved with a 94.00, as did Li with 91.50, only for Atkin to fall on her effort. Gu, the most decorated female Olympic freestyle skier in history, boosted her score further on her third and final run, leaving Atkin knowing she would have to be perfec...