4 minute read
Katie Ormerod
Back on board
She’s the most successful British snowboarder ever, but circumstance has denied her one competition. Now, she’s not letting anything get in her way
Words JESS HOLLAND
It was the day before she was due to compete at Pyeongchang 2018 when British snowboarder Katie Ormerod came off a rail too early in training and split her right heel bone in half. The break was so agonising, she said, it made her previous injuries – including chipped vertebrae, broken arms and a snapped ACL – “feel like paper cuts”. What followed was nine months of pinned bones, skin grafts, operations and painstaking rehab. A year later, she was back on a board. Six months after that, she won her first Crystal Globe as overall World Cup champion in slopestyle, making her the most successful British snowboarder in history.
It wasn’t the first hurdle that Ormerod, now 24, has faced. In 2014, she tantalisingly missed out on qualifying for Sochi by just one place. But, from the day she began snowboarding at the age of five, Ormerod has developed an aptitude for perseverance. As a Yorkshire native, she had to learn on a dry slope rather than perfectly powdered mountains. Her first time on snow, aged nine, was at a British championship event and she went home with four gold medals. Since then, as well as racking up World Cup and X Games medals, she became, in 2016, the first woman ever to pull off a backside double cork 1080 – that’s one full horizontal rotation and two vertical flips in the air at the same time.
Now, Ormerod has nailed – knock on wood – a new move, ‘The Crippler’. As she prepares to compete in this year’s Games in China, she isn’t letting any fear or doubt enter her mind. She’s never felt stronger, she says. It’s finally her time to show what she’s capable of on the biggest sporting stage of all.
the red bulletin: How are you feeling as the Games approach?
katie ormerod: In a good place. My body’s strong and my heel is 100 per cent fine now, thank goodness. I’m not allowing myself to feel external pressure. I don’t have anything to prove. I just feel blessed that I’m able to snowboard again, let alone compete at another Games. I’m excited to have that experience, because I only got a glimpse of it in Pyeongchang.
What was the lowest point after your injury?
Around nine months into rehab, I was physically the strongest I’ve ever been – from lifting weights – but I had a really bad limp. I was in a lot of pain and I knew I wouldn’t be able to snowboard if it didn’t go away. I didn’t know what direction my life would go in. I didn’t have a back-up plan.
Were you scared to get back on a snowboard?
No, I didn’t go snowboarding until my heel was completely fixed, and I started building things up slowly. In 18 months, I was back competing in the World Cup. I went into that season with a positive mindset. I’d been working hard in the gym, doing a lot of visualising. I got on all four slopestyle podiums, then I won the overall Crystal Globe.
How was that?
The best feeling ever. To win in my comeback season, after such a long rehab, made it so much more special. I’ll always be proud of that, because of everything I went through. I hope I inspired people [by showing that] even if you’ve had a really big setback, you can work hard and come back stronger.
Does your background as a competitive gymnast, starting at the age of four, give you an edge?
There aren’t many snowboarders with a gymnastics background, and it’s useful to have that spatial awareness. Knowing where you are in the air is so important because it means you know where you’ll land. If something goes wrong, you have a better chance of getting out safely.
Was it a big deal to nail The Crippler [an inverted 540° spin]?
Yeah. I’d never had the opportunity to try it before, because it’s mainly a halfpipe trick [Ormerod’s disciplines are big air and slopestyle]. We’re seeing a lot of halfpipe features integrated into slopestyle courses, so I wanted to have a trick like that up my sleeve.
Can you describe the experience of spinning so high in the air?
It’s really fun, but I have to be very focused. When you do it well, you can feel it. Even before you see the footage, you know that it worked. It’s like you’re flying.
How has snowboarding transformed you?
It’s made me the best person I can be. Getting through the obstacles snowboarding has thrown in my way has shaped me. I’m really confident, I know my body well, and I know what it can handle. I snowboard for a living and travel to incredible places. I’ve got wonderful memories and friends. I’ve had the most amazing life so far. I’m grateful. Instagram: @ormerodkatie
