Emma Lonsdale (born 24 April 1984) is a

freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

who competes in the

halfpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...

. Her Olympics debut was at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, competing for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

Early life and education

Emma Lonsdale was born on 24 April 1984 in

Langcliffe Langcliffe is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, in England. It lies to the north of Settle and east of Giggleswick. The River Ribble runs along the west of the village. Langcliffe lies within one of eight ...

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

, North Yorkshire, England. Lonsdale began skiing at the age of 2, and soon became amongst the members of the

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

Snowsports club. Her secondary school was Settle High School. She (in addition to the majority of the GB skiing team) learned how to ski on Snowflex, which has led to the team being called the "fridge kids".

Skiing career

Lonsdale competed in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

for 16 years. However, she switched sports to

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

, where she trialled several disciplines:

mogul Mogul may refer to: History *Mughal Empire, or any member of its ruling dynasty Persons * Magnate ** Mogul, Secret Service codename for President Trump ** Business magnate, a prominent person in a particular industry **Media mogul, a person who ...

, aerial, and skiercross. She eventually decided to participate in

skiing. At the 2008 X Games, Lonsdale finished in ninth place in halfpipe, and at the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2011 The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2011 were the 41st FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held 7–20 February in Germany at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. These were the second alpine world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, whic ...

she finished in 11th place. She has won the halfpipe at the British Championships every year from 2003 to 2011. She has also worked as a lifeguard.

Olympics

Lonsdale's debut in the Olympics was the

2014 Winter Games , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, where she competed at the halfpipe for

. She was confirmed as in the squad in late January. Her first action is in the qualifying round on 20 February 2014. Her aim is to win a medal. At the Olympics, she was due to compete with

Rowan Cheshire Rowan Cheshire (born 1 September 1995) is a British freestyle skier, specialising in the halfpipe. Cheshire competed in the 2013 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Voss, Norway, where she finished 17th. She won a bronze medal at the 2013 World J ...

, James Machon and Murray Buchan, but Cheshire was forced to withdraw due to an accident in training at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, leaving Lonsdale as Britain's only competitor in the women's halfpipe. Lonsdale is due to compete using Whitedot skis.

Family

Lonsdale's brother Ben also skis, with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Emma Living people 1984 births Sportspeople from Yorkshire English female freestyle skiers Olympic freestyle skiers for Great Britain Freestyle skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics