Youth Olympic medallist Kirsty Muir on the “crazy” progression of women’s freestyle skiing and her World Championship hopes

The recent Winter X Games 2023 in Aspen highlighted the incredible progression of women’s freestyle skiing, with Canada’s Megan Oldham landing the first ever triple cork by a female as she topped the podium in big air.

The 21-year-old’s gravity-defying feat was just one example of how female freeskiers are pushing the limits in each and every competition – something that Kirsty Muir describes as “crazy”.

The teenager would certainly know better than most. At just 18, she is one of the sport’s most promising young talents, and last year was Great Britain’s youngest athlete at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, where she made the final in both big air and slopestyle.

That impressive Olympic debut came just two years after she won a silver medal in big air at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Lausanne 2020, while she has also twice made the podium at the World Cup level.

Most recently, the 18-year-old clinched bronze medals in both big air and slopestyle at the Winter X Games 2023, underlining her credentials as not just a star for the future, but one of the leading freestyle skiers in the world.

Ahead of the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships, which are being held in Bakuriani, Georgia, from 19 February to 5 March, Muir spoke exclusively to Olympics.com about being part of the incredible progression of women’s freestyle skiing, and how far she has come since competing in the Youth Olympics.

How are you feeling ahead of the FIS World Championships?

I'm feeling really good. I've been really enjoying everything at the moment and I'm just going to go in there, and still do that. I've learned a new double in January, the right side one, so I really would love to put that in my slopestyle run and try and land the best run I can. But just going in there happy is the main thing.

Have you set any targets, or are you just focused on landing your runs?

Personally, I'm more about my run and just trying to put down the best I can do. I feel like nobody goes into a competition not thinking about the podium. You obviously always have that in your mind because that's the reason we compete – to do well in ourselves, but to do well in the competition too. So yeah, I obviously would really hope to [win a medal], but I'm going to go and just ski for myself and then I should be happy either way.

How pleased were you to win those two bronze medals at the X Games 2023?

I was so happy. I mean, it's a dream come true to be able to compete in X Games, let alone win a couple of medals. I had a really good time competing in the big air, it's the best I've skied in competition and the first time doing my 1620. So overall it was just an amazing competition. The girls were skiing incredibly, and it was so cool to be a part of it.

The progression in women’s skiing is so impressive right now, with Megan Oldham landing the first triple cork in the X Games big air event. How does it feel to be a part of that?

It's so cool to see where women's ski freestyle is going; it's just progressing at such a quick rate. It's so cool to be a part of it and just to be in that environment. It definitely inspires you and pushes you on and we're just trying to keep improving our sport and see where it can go.

It’s been one year since your Olympic debut at Beijing 2022 – how do you look back on that experience now?

It was a really cool experience and I’m just really grateful for it. I can't believe it's already been a year; it's crazy. It was a really good time and I feel like I've progressed a lot since then – both in my skiing and just as a person – and I'm really grateful for the experience and where I've been since then.

What were you able to take away from that first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games?

I definitely learned a lot. It's the biggest stage that I've ever competed on, and it was an amazing competition as well. At the time, that was the best competition for the girls in big air that's ever been seen and the progression since then has been insane. After the Olympics, I would never have thought that in one year's time we're going to have the first woman's triple. It’s really crazy.

Beijing wasn’t the first time you’d been on the Olympic stage – you also competed at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020, winning a silver medal in big air. How do you reflect on that event now?

I can't believe that's three years ago now. Again, I'm really grateful for that experience. It was very different, being a youth event, and it was amazing to compete in a big competition at such a young age. It was a really good comp, but I'm also really happy about how far I've come since then, with my trick level and everything. It was a nice stepping-stone for the journey, for sure.

Did your experiences at Lausanne 2020 make going to Beijing a little bit easier?

It definitely helped and it for sure felt familiar. My favourite thing at the Youth Olympics was the pin collecting and that's obviously the same at the Olympics, so that familiarity really helped when we were settling in. But I also had a really good team around me, which helped as well. It just all felt really nice.

We’re now less than a year from the next Winter Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Gangwon. Do you have any advice for the young athletes who will be competing there?

I’d tell them to just really enjoy what they do and take in the moment because this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. This is maybe the start of their own Olympic journey, so I think they just need to enjoy every second.