Zoe Atkin: British 18-year-old wins halfpipe bronze at World Championships

British freestyle skier Zoe Atkin claimed halfpipe bronze at the World Championships in Aspen, Colorado.

Atkin, 18, who is the younger sister of Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist Izzy Atkin, achieved her best score of 90.5 in the third of three runs.

American-born Chinese skier Ailing Gu (93) added world gold to her two X Games titles, with Canada's Rachael Karker (91.75) second.

The bronze is the first major medal of Zoe Atkin's senior career.

The third-placed finish also underlines her Olympic medal potential for the Beijing 2022 Games.

She is GB's first medallist of the 2021 World Championships, which are taking place across four countries because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Former X Games champion James Woods and Youth Olympic silver medallist Kirsty Muir competed in the ski slopestyle finals on Saturday, with Woods just missing out on what would have been his fourth World Championship medal.

He finished fourth with Switzerland's Andri Ragettli taking gold. Muir was the youngest skier in the women's final at 16 and came sixth as Gu won a second gold, becoming the first freeskier to triumph twice at the same championships.

Izzy Atkin only recently recovered from the concussion she suffered while at the X Games in January - where she won silver - and failed to make the women's final.