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Winter Olympics 2018: Katie Ormerod will ‘come back stronger’ after injury heathbreak, says Katherine Grainger

The 20-year-old snowboarder underwent surgery on a badly broken heel on Friday but has time on her side to target the next Winter Olympics at Beijing 2022

Mark Staniforth

Pyeongchang

Friday 09 February 2018 08:31 GMT

Katie Ormerod issued an update on her condition ahead of surgery on Instagram (Instagram/ormerodkatie)

Katie Ormerod will come back stronger from the injury which has wrecked her 2018 Winter Olympics dream, according to Dame Katherine Grainger.

The 20-year-old Ormerod was undergoing surgery in Pyeongchang on Friday after suffering a severely fractured heel in a crash in snowboarding practice.

Ormerod had been hailed as one of Great Britain’s strongest medal bets in the build-up to the Games after securing a series of World Cup podiums in both slopestyle and Big Air disciplines.

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

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1/9Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Lizzy Yarnold

Lizzy Yarnold won Team GB’s first gold medal of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games after dominating the women's skeleton from start to finish. She hs recently take some time away from the sport before returning with the aim of defending her title at PyeongChang 2018.

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Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Jenny Jones

Jenny Jones set Britain alight with slopestyle fever when she produced a spectacular display at Sochi 2014 to take Olympic bronze. having spent a winter in Tignes as a chalet maid, she took up snowboarding, quickly winning everything she entered, included three Winter X Games golds between 2009 and 2010.

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Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Jamie Nicholls

Jamie Nicholls became the first British male snowboarder to win a World Cup event in 2016. The Bradford-born athlete took up the sport aged seven at Halifax Ski and Snowboard centre, but by the age of 13 he was already considered one of the best UK snowboarders. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Nicholls finished sixth overall.

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Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

James Woods

James Woods won five consecutive British National Championships in slopestyle between 2007 and 2011. Woods suffered a hip injury in training for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, but finished a remarkable fifth in the slopestyle. After winning the Big Air competition to take a first ever Winter X Games gold medal in 2017, the Brit went on to take Winter X Games Europe bronze in slopestyle before repeating the feat at the World Championships a week later.

AFP/Getty Images

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Elise Christie

Elise Christie was born in Livingston and moved to Nottingham when she was 15 in order to pursue her sporting dream. After representing Great Britain at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Christie enjoyed the most successful season ever by a British female short track speed skater in 2012/13 - finishing the campaign ranked top in the 1000m world rankings, with two European gold medals to her name. Following three disqualifications at Sochi 2014, the 12-time World medallist will be confident of improving on her previous Olympic best result of 11th in the 500m at Vancouver 2010.

AFP/Getty Images

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Eve Muirhead

Eve Muirhead became the youngest ever skip to win a Winter Olympic medal when she guided Team GB to bronze at Sochi 2014 in what was her second Winter Olympic appearance. A four-time world junior champion, Muirhead has won multiple European and World senior medals – including a second gold at the 2017 European Championships – and will once again skip Team GB’s women’s curling rink in PyeongChang.

AFP/Getty Images

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Dave Ryding

Dave Ryding shocked the alpine skiing world when he claimed Britain’s first World Cup skiing podium for 36 years with slalom silver in Kitzbuhel in January 2017. The man from Bretherton had almost made another trip to the podium in Stockholm in the parallel slalom, but finished an agonising fourth, just 0.06 seconds off a bronze medal. Ryding competed at the Vancouver and Sochi Olympic Winter Games, finishing 17th in the slalom in Russia, and achieved his highest World Championship placing in 2017 when he came 11th.

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Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Charlotte Gilmartin

Charlotte Gilmartin began competing as a junior speed skater for Great Britain aged just 15, before rising through the ranks to regularly compete on the world stage. In January 2016, Gilmartin won 3000m gold and overall silver at the European Championships and added 500m bronze a year later.

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Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch

Andrew Musgrave

Andrew Musgrave’s first outing at the Olympic Winter Games came at Vancouver 2010 where he finished 51st in the 15km + 15km double pursuit, 55th in the 15km freestyle race and 58th in the individual sprint. In 2014, he competed in his second Olympic Winter Games in Sochi where he qualified 27th for the individual sprint before finishing 44th in the 15km classical and 53rd in the 50km freestyle. The Dorset-born athlete finished fourth in the 50km freestyle at the 2017 World Championships – a higher placing than any previously achieved by a British Nordic skier.

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Grainger, who clinched rowing gold at London 2012 and is now chair of UK Sport, said: “Only in time will it sink in what she has missed out on here – she’s much younger than me and has already had more injuries than I had in my entire career.

“If you handle these things right it can make you a better athlete – it becomes part of your character and you can be better for it.

“I know she will get past this and come back more enthused in four years’ time. She has always come back stronger from these setbacks and I’m sure she will again.”

In Ormerod’s absence, Aimee Fuller will be the only British competitor when qualifying for the women’s snowboard slopestyle competition takes place on Sunday.

Ormerod’s cousin Jamie Nicholls is due to be one of the first Britons in action at the Games when he enters men’s snowboard slopestyle qualifying with compatriot Billy Morgan in Pyeongchang on Saturday.

She wrote on Instagram to update fans about her injury, and also wish her teammates good luck ahead of the Olympics. She wrote: "Yesterday sucked! After dreaming of competing at the Olympics for years, I finally got there and received the most bad luck I’ve ever had! After breaking my wrist on the first training day I was determined to still train, compete and do my best but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I severely broke my heel into 2 pieces so having surgery in a couple of hours to get it fixed.

"Words can’t describe how gutted I am but thank you to everyone for all your support and kind words!! Also a massive good luck to my team mates competing this weekend...you guys better kill it!

PA

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