PDMS sponsored Zoë at Winter Olympics

Zoë competed in the thrilling snowboard cross event, an exciting addition to the Olympics. In qualification, an excellent second run put Zoë through to the exciting final stages of the competition in which four boarders go down the track together. Zoë’s challenge ended at this quarter final stage when she took a tumble, claiming a final finishing position of 15th.

Last year, Zoë aged just 19, was ranked fourth in the world but her season ended badly when she broke two bones in her left foot during a photoshoot. This serious injury could have dashed Zoë’s Olympic dream but she has battled to regain her fitness and amazingly, even though one doctor told her that she would never snowboard again, she has made it to Turin

How did you become involved in snowboarding at a competitive level?

I did my first snowboarding competition 2 months after I started snowboarding, it was the British championships and I was the only one in my age group. I did a couple of competitions each year after that until I was 16. Then I went out to do a season with a coach in Canada and got into it more seriously.

Can you tell us more about the snowboard cross event and what's involved?

If you know what motor-cross is it’s kind of like that on snowboards. You have a course with gates you must go around, jumps, banked turns, rollers and lots of other kinds of obstacles that you have to get over as fast as possible. Each competitor goes individually to start with for two timed runs. The fastest 16 girls and 32 guys go into heats. In the heats you go down the same course you just went down but 4 at a time and the first 2 who get to finish go onto the next heat.

I love boardercross because of the excitement of hurtling down and course and over big jumps knowing you have to get to the bottom before these other 3 people who are right next to you!

How much time and effort do you have to commit to training?

An awful lot! I am usually home only for about 28 days during the year. I am always either training on snow, doing fitness training or at competitions.

You've recently fought back from an injury, how did this affect your performance?

Well, it prevented me from doing any on-snow summer or autumn training. That’s usually the time you can concentrate on improving technique without having competitions to worry about. I also had to ride hard boots (kind of like ski boots) instead of my usual soft boots when I first got back on snow. I really didn’t like that. But then after the New Year I got back on soft boots and they were much better. I also had to adapt my bindings and things and that took some time. I am still inhibited a bit by my foot as it gets tired. I can’t walk properly yet but I can snowboard, so it can only get better from now on.

Being selected for the GB Team is a fantastic achievement, can you describe how you feel about competing in the Olympics?

Very excited. I have been wanting to compete in the Olympics for as long as I can remember so to actually be doing it is great!

What was the atmosphere like in Turin?

Well the snowboarders are pretty much by themselves up in Bardonnecchia so it’s quite like a normal competition but the media part is much bigger. I also got to meet Princess Anne who I sat with during the snowboard halfpipe. Then she invited me to go with her to have tea! There was a lot more security. Oh yes, and the food is better.

What impact has the Olympics had on your profile?

Well I have a Google alert system that sends an e-mail to my account every time my name appears on a new page in Google and normally I get about 1 alert a week right now I am getting about 5 a day!

What are your ambitions for the future?

To go to the next Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. In the meantime I want to get good World Cup results.