Who Is Isabel Atkin? Wiki, Skier, Net Worth, Bronze Medal And Facts You Need To Know

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are now behind us and the world will need to wait another four years for the games to come around again. Perhaps the happiest nation at this moment is the United Kingdom for earning their first medal in the skiing competition that happened at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The skier to celebrate this year is Isabel Atkin, the athlete who managed to take third place in the competition and secure a spot on the podium. She ignited a debate of whether she was actually British or American and the reason being is that Atkin trains and lives in America, but represents Great Britain in the international competitions. Isabel Atkin is a British-American freestyle skier who is good at slope style skiing. She decided to represent her country of origin because they didn’t have anyone to do so in that sport but who exactly is she? 19-year-old Isabel Atkin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States to a British father, Mike Atkin and a Malaysian mother, Winnie Atkin and she has one sister, c Zoe. Atkin taught herself to ski at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine when she was three and her family sacrificed themselves and moved to Park City, Utah to help her perfect her skiing techniques. When Atkin turned 14, she attended the Winter Sports School where the academic calendar stretches from April to November so that she could ski in the winter. She enrolled in Colorado College in 2017 and she continues to ski while in college to perfect her career. Her father is British and and she was born in the United States which means she has dual-citizenship, both British and American. However, the skier decided to join the Great Britain Park & Pipe program and she started to compete for Great Britain when she turned 15 in the 2013-14 season. In 2017, Isabel Atkin participated in the slope style World Cup freestyle skiing took place in Silvaplana and she became the first British female champion to take a gold medal in a World Cup event in women’s ski slope style. Atkin also competed at the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championship that was happening in Sierra Nevada, Spain where she won a bronze medal in slope style. Earlier this year Atkin won a bronze medal at the ski slope style World Cup that was held at the Aspen Snowmass in Colorado. At the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, she managed to secure a bronze medal in slope style and her medal was considered the first medal for Great Britain in skiing. This happened after British skier Alain Baxter had his bronze medal stripped away in 2002 after he tested positive for doping.

The extremely chaotic nature of the wind affected the freestyle skiing race at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and it made the snowboard slope style quite hard for those participating in the event. It was nice to report that it was nice to see an event where luck played no role. Another good thing that was important to report which was also the news that Isabel Atkin was the first British athlete to ever win a medal on women’s ski slopestyle. It ignited a conversation on the web including social media especially on her Instagram after she posted a photo of her accepting the win. The skier was proud to rewrite Team Great Britain’s history books by being the youngest athlete to win an Olympic medal in skiing. Atkin’s super clean final run earned her a score of 84.60 and a bronze medal hanging around her neck. It was a magnificent thing to watch unfold and there was quite the celebration when all was said and done. Earlier that day before she managed to pull off a win, the women’s ski slope style at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games turned out to be an Olympic highlight for Team Great Britain with two British skiers, Isabela Atkin and Katie Summerhayes making it to the final. Atkin stomped her second qualification run and bagged a brilliant score of 86.80 while her teammate, Katie managed to have two solid runs. The teammates made it to the final in fourth and 10th place respectively and that was a clear indication that Britain has come a long way in the sport. Katie was bravely skiing with an injured ankle and was determined to lift her country’s flag high despite her injury. She earned seventh place overall with a score of 71.40. The event was dominated by Sarah Hoefflin who is a Swiss skier and her fellow countrywoman and teammate, Mathilde Grimaud. In the last runs, Grimaud was winning and had a score of 88.00, but she was outshined by Hoefflin with a spectacular score of 91.20. Holding onto the last medal of the event, it’s still a success story to go with, and it will be a women’s ski slope style competition that Britain won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

When she won and started doing interviews, Isabel Atkin surprised everyone with her American accent and it was clear that she hasn't been living in Britain for most of her life. Her father said that she grew up on Marmite and Ribena even though she was born in Boston and trained on the snow-dusted mountains of Park City, Utah. She has a huge fan base in Birmingham where her grandmother lives and among those who celebrated Atkin’s victory was in fact, her paternal grandmother. The excitement was also live on Instagram and Twitter with people posting her photos and arguing about her nationality. In an interview, after having a moment on the podium, she stated that she was speechless and happy to get a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games freestyle skiing event. Watching from the stands were the ones who have been with her throughout her entire career, her devoted parents Michael and Winnie Atkin. According to her father, Isabel Atkin went to England when she was just five months old. He also joked that they were going back for Christmas and she was screaming on the overnight British Airways flight. At that point, the family wasn’t sure whether to stay on long-term in the United States or not, but since then, the skier has been going to England frequently to visit her family. Isabel Atkin’s mother, Winnie Atkin spoke about her win and said it was a wonderful feeling to see her win a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and added that her daughter was very reserved and quiet, and that she just allows her freestyle skiing do the talking. Winnie Atkin also stated that she didn’t know that Britain had not won a skiing medal at the Winter Olympics before and she was actually glad that she wasn’t aware of that because she would have been worried more if she did. Isabel Atkin became a member of team Great Britain five years ago after she was persuaded by British coach, Pat Sharples to represent Britain and make the queen proud. According to Atkin, the coach knew that she had dual citizenship and he was keen to get her on the British team. He traveled to Colorado to meet the Atkins family in 2014 just before the Sochi Olympics, and he described Atkin as the dark horse of the Great Britain squad. However, many sports fans who were watching the actions took to Twitter and her Instagram to congratulate her, check her photos, and ask questions regarding her heritage. There were some mixed reactions and some American fans were not pleased to hear that she was actually representing Britain. Some living in Great Britain asked why she trains in the United States and there were even some fans who assumed that the bronze medal that Atkin won was for America. Some expressed their disbelief after hearing her accent in the interviews that followed. She doesn’t visit England alone and she often travels to Malaysia where her mother hails from. She enjoys all three worlds when the question of her background pops up and according to her mother, Atkin loves to tour in Malaysia, and she loves curry. In 2016, she shared photos on Instagram from a vacation in Penang Hill and skiing in Langkawi.

Isabel Atkin began skiing when she was three at Sugarloaf Mountains based in Carrabassett Valley in the United States of America. Her family moved to Utah when she was 14 so that she could continue her training in Park City and advance in the sport and also realize her potential.

She fell in love with skiing because Sugarloaf Mountain was always so cold and she didn’t want to wear the racing suit, so she opted for freestyle skiing instead. When she began skating, Atkin would look for the bumps on the trail and try to get up in the air for not more than a second and that’s how she fell in love with freestyle skiing.

Atkin usually goes to the slopes and trains for about five hours every day in Park City. She also does strength and conditioning work at the gym after leaving the snow dust to prepare her body and grow her brain. Atkin also connects with American athletes since they practice on the same ground.

Isabel Atkin’s net worth is not known, but she must be earning quite a good net worth representing her home country in international competitions. She also has some sponsors who pay for her endorsements and by doing so this increases her net worth.

There is probably nothing great for an athlete as being a statesperson and representing one’s country in major events. Isabel Atkin really made the British people proud.