NI snowboarder Aimee Fuller backs next generation to step up after turbulent Winter Olympics campaign

Aimee Fuller insists Team GB’s turbulent Winter Olympic campaign should not inhibit inspiring the next generation of British talent.
By Bella Butler, Sportsbeat
Published 21st Feb 2022, 17:11 BST
BBC Winter Olympics Presenters Aimee Fuller, Ayo Akinwolere, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers. (C) BBC - Photographer: Nick Eagle and Tom HollowBBC Winter Olympics Presenters Aimee Fuller, Ayo Akinwolere, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers. (C) BBC - Photographer: Nick Eagle and Tom Hollow
BBC Winter Olympics Presenters Aimee Fuller, Ayo Akinwolere, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers. (C) BBC - Photographer: Nick Eagle and Tom Hollow

Bangor snowboarder Fuller, who moved to NI aged 16, competed at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 and has gone on to enjoy a high-profile career in the media since retiring from the sport.

She watched Britain’s curlers save the Games with two last-ditch medals – silver and gold – this weekend after several British athletes had failed to fire in the Chinese capital.

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The former British champion, 30, said: “Perspective is really important in a time like this. These athletes have had a really tough ride just to get to the Olympics.

“If you look at grassroots in snowboarding, we have so much young talent feeding through so looking forward to 2026, it’s so exciting thinking of the next Games and what we can do.”

She added: “I think the Olympics and Paralympics leaves legacies and if you can see it, you can be it.

“The biggest misconception is that to ski, you have to have a lot of money, and nowadays – it’s not. I started on a dry slope in Bromley, south London, aged four, skiing.

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“With the support of The National Lottery and the funded facilities across the UK, it is accessible, and you don’t need to be going away on expensive skiing holidays.

“That just showcases the accessibility of the sport, with the indoor snowdomes and the dry slope and the benefit of being from the UK. We can do it all year round as we don’t have any snow.”

Fuller finished 17th in the slopestyle event in Sochi eight years ago before going on to claim a brilliant third-place finish in the Big Air World Cup in 2017, but a severe crash in PyeongChang saw her crack at a second Games go up in smoke and led to her premature retirement from snowboarding.

She’s since gone on to be one of the faces of the BBC’s range of snowsports coverage, starring on Ski Sunday and throughout the recent Games in Beijing.

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National Lottery players are one of the biggest supporters of Team GB and ParalympicsGB winter athletes and raise more than £30 million each week for good causes including grassroots and elite sport. Discover the positive impact playing The National Lottery has at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and get involved by using the hashtag #TNLAthletes

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