Stanford's Academic Prodigy Faces Olympic Halfpipe Challenge
It represents a reasonable assumption that professors at Stanford University rarely encounter puzzles they cannot solve. Yet Zoe Atkin presents a conundrum that has initially baffled many faculty members. A substantial portion of her young life has been dedicated to Stanford's esteemed lecture halls, where she has devoted the past four years pursuing a demanding degree in symbolic systems.
The Dual Life of an Elite Athlete and Student
This rigorous academic program explores the intricate intersection between human cognition and computational machines, delving into diverse fields including artificial intelligence, linguistics, psychology, and statistical analysis. Periodically, Atkin must vanish from campus to accommodate her parallel passion, creating recurring scenarios of academic disruption.
'I'll be emailing them, saying "I'm gonna miss this week" and they're like, "Oh, whatever", and have no clue of what's happening,' Atkin, aged 23, explains to Daily Mail Sport. 'When I come back, they'll then ask, "What were you doing?" I show them a video and they're like, "What the hell?".'
Atkin competes as a professional freestyle skier and will represent Team GB in the halfpipe event during this month's Winter Olympics in Italy. Should performances align with expectations, she could return to Stanford's campus adorned with Olympic gold. However, the visual evidence of her athletic pursuit hardly inspires conservative betting.
The Perilous World of Halfpipe Skiing
The halfpipe environment represents extreme sporting territory—numerous catastrophic possibilities exist when athletes launch three-storey heights while attempting multiple somersaults before descending one wall of the tubular structure and ascending the opposite side, repeating this sequence continuously. Participants risk serious injuries including spinal fractures, traumatic concussions, and internal organ damage.
'I definitely feel fear very acutely,' Atkin confesses.
Fortunately, her most severe injury remains a fractured toe, while her competitive achievements shine brilliantly. She secured the world championship title last year and earned her second X Games gold medal just last month. On theoretical documentation, her position appears enviable. But competitive ice bears no resemblance to paper, and the Winter Olympics stands as sport's most spectacularly unpredictable lottery.
Overcoming Olympic Trauma and Mental Barriers
My initial encounter with Atkin occurred during the 2022 Beijing Games, where she arrived burdened by expectations as the younger sibling of an Olympic medallist before enduring a multifaceted ordeal. She missed her initial flight to China, overslept through a qualification day alarm, then suffered two crashes during the halfpipe final. After placing ninth overall, she collapsed into tears.
This athlete consequently carries psychological scars exceeding physical ones—the Beijing experience proved so devastating she contemplated abandoning her sporting career entirely.
'I've tried to block out some of the memories,' she admits. 'It was definitely an amazing experience in one sense, because it's the Olympic Games. But it was also really tough for me.'
Her self-confidence demanded extensive reconstruction. When Atkin commenced her Stanford studies in 2022, no guarantee existed regarding her return to elite athletic competition. For the 2026 Games, she competes as an individual defying the reckless stereotype often associated with Winter Olympians.
Contrasting Approaches to Winter Sports
The conventional perception aligns more closely with free-spirited athletes like Billy Morgan, who claimed snowboarding bronze for Team GB in 2018 and required transportation to his accommodation in a shopping trolley during celebrations. He spent considerable portions of his victory night wearing a toilet seat around his neck, having previously revealed that his father, 'Mad Eddie', once accidentally shot himself while preparing anti-burglar boobytraps.
Atkin, born in Massachusetts to a British father, represents a different athletic archetype entirely.
'There's a misconception that we're all crazy adrenaline junkies who don't think about what we're doing,' she observes. 'It may be true for some, but I definitely feel fear. Halfpipe is scary and for good reason. But I try to embrace the fear—it's something I've learned a lot about on the psychology element of my degree. When I'm feeling afraid, it helps me lock in to do what I need to do.'
Academic Rivalry on the Olympic Stage
Undoubtedly multiple approaches exist for conquering the halfpipe, but an intriguing coincidence finds Atkin's primary Italian rival, defending champion Eileen Gu of China, also enrolled at Stanford University. They bring formidable intellect to a sport frequently characterized by controlled madness.
When questioned about campus interactions, Atkin responds: 'Actually, no. I feel like we're strictly on that competitive grind. If I see her in competitions, I'm like, "You're going down!".'
Unlike Team GB's other prominent gold medal prospect, skeleton racer Matt Weston, Atkin avoids bold victory declarations. She emphasizes procedural excellence while acknowledging her desire to emerge from the shadow of elder sister Izzy, who earned slopestyle bronze in 2018.
'I would love to have a medal at the Olympics, because that's the one thing she has that I don't!' Atkin declares. 'That would feel good.'
This aspiration remains unequivocal. However, Italy's shopping trolleys will likely remain undisturbed by celebratory antics.
