Katie Ormerod: Snowboarder aims to put nightmare season and bone infection behind her
- Published
Katie Ormerod has not able to snowboard since last year
"This season has been a nightmare but I've never once thought of giving up."
British snowboarder Katie Ormerod admits her latest setback has tested her both physically and mentally but is sanguine about a bone infection that has left her sick and exasperated at times and prevented her from competing all season.
Three trips to the accident and emergency department in hospital, plus a spell at a specialist infection unit in Liverpool, has put an end to her bad luck, she hopes.
"It's been extremely frustrating but I feel relieved now it's been fixed," the Olympian, 25, told BBC Sport.
Ormerod is no stranger to injury. Her most high-profile disappointment was the shattered foot she suffered on the eve of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where she was a medal hope in both slopestyle and big air.
Her latest problems began while training last autumn for the 2022-23 season. She felt pain in her left ankle and started to feel so unwell she ended up in bed.
An old scar opened up and there was a significant level of infection. She was given penicillin but had an allergic reaction to it, making her feel even worse, and was given other antibiotics to fight it.
A few weeks later, the wound opened again and doctors decided the best course of action would be surgery to remove a metal plate that had been inserted a number of years earlier, as it looked like her body was rejecting it.
Ormerod thought that would be the end of it. After being given the all-clear, she started her rehabilitation but then her wound opened again and she fell ill once more.
She was eventually referred to a hospital in Liverpool, who diagnosed the cause of her recurring issues was a section of bone which had died and become infected.
Ormerod had it removed and more antibiotics were pumped into her ankle. She was only supposed to be there as a day case but ended up spending 10 days in hospital.
Ormerod attended the Brits on crutches
That was at the end of March but with her surgical boot wrapped up in a waterproof covering, Ormerod is hobbling around on crutches in the snow at Cairngorm Mountain, in the Scottish Highlands.
She's at the British Freeski and Snowboard Championships, aka the Brits, supporting her fellow GB Snowsport athletes and catching up with old friends.
"The Brits means so much to me, I didn't want to miss them this year," Ormerod said.
"I've loved competing at the Brits and it was when I won the big air when I was 14, it made realise I had what it takes to be a professional snowboarder."
For now, she has to watch while others compete in slopestyle, a banked slalom and a rail jam.
"I should be back snowboarding in a few months and I can't wait. It's tough not been able to do something I love," she said.
"Through it all, I've never thought about giving up. I'm only 25 and feel I've got a lot of life left in my snowboard career yet."
Ormerod takes comfort in the fact she has been here before. After recovering from a potentially career-ending injury in South Korea, she came back and won the overall World Cup crystal globe in 2020 - becoming the first British woman to do so.
She has been watching in awe how the sport has progressed this season - and how well Great Britain team-mates Mia Brookes and Kirsty Muir have been performing.
Brookes won the world snowboard slopestyle title at the age of 16 and freestyle skier Muir claimed two medals at the X Games.
"Mia's killed it and Kirsty has been amazing too," said Ormerod.
"The level of competition is really high but it's so exciting still to be a part of that. I can't wait to get back training and learning new tricks."
If all goes to plan, Ormerod will head to Australia and New Zealand for their winter season in August and September.
She has finished on the podium 11 times in World Cup events and will compete in as many as she can ahead of Olympic qualification for the 2026 Games.
"The 2026 Olympics are definitely my main goal right now," she adds. "I can't wait to get stuck back in."