She is the young British snowboarding poster girl of TeamGB – hoping to be the face of the squad that makes history at the Winter Olympics.
With her model looks, distinct blonde hair, flawless make-up and infectious giggle, 20-year-old Katie Ormerod is tipped to pick up the country’s first medal when she hits the snow in what officials hope will be Britain’s most successful winter games.
Despite confirming she had broken her wrist in training, TeamGB’s great hope bravely insisted she will be fit to fight for a snowboarding medal when she begins on Sunday.
She is one of a record 59 British athletes competing in 11 sports over 16 days in the frozen mountains and valleys of South Korea for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The competition has been over-shadowed by the diplomatic crisis born out of rogue-state neighbour North Korea’s nuclear ambitions which have threatened to hijack the international event by its unpredictable dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Besides a backdrop of political fragility, the games have been hit by fears freezing temperatures will make it too cold for spectators to watch Friday’s opening ceremony – with organisers frantically installing heaters to keep them warm.
Poster girl: With her model good looks and flawless completion, snowboarder Katie Ormerod, 20, from Brighouse, in West Yorkshire, is the pin up for TeamGB at the Winter Olympics
All action girl: Katie, who is dating New Zealand snowboard coach Lachie Good, 21, is pictured being put through her paces as she trains in South Korea ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics
Katie is one of a record 59 British athletes competing in 11 sports over 16 days in the frozen mountains of South Korea for the Games, which begin with tomorrow’s Opening Ceremony
An excited Katie told MailOnline: She told MailOnline: ‘I’m loving it. Today was my first day training on the Olympic slope-style course – it’s amazing. The jumps are all so perfect.’
The brutally cold conditions are warping athletes’ skis and forcing some to toss them out after training runs.
Due to the hard snow and cold weather, the slalom race course has been injected with water. And in the absence of real snow, fake snow is having to be pumped onto the slopes.
Meanwhile, 900 troops have been called in to help out staff after an outbreak of norovirus in the athletes’ village.
But despite the hiccups, almost 3,000 athletes from 92 countries are braving the freezing conditions to represent their nation in 102 events in 15 different sports.
Among them is British hopeful Katie, who was in high spirits today after her first outing on the course.
The bouncy blonde shrugged off the bitter cold and the gruelling nine-hour time difference to glide, jump and perform tricks on her way down the slope-style snowboard course yesterday during training.
She is tipped to win TeamGB’s first 2018 Winter Olympic medal, after reaching the podium in six World Cup events in slopestyle and big air disciplines, in the run-up to the Games.
Katie, who has been dating Lachie since 2016, posted this picture of the couple in December with the caption: ‘Frosty mornings in Scotland! Thanks for surprising me at Christmas.’
High-flier: Born and raised in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, she was three years old when she first took to skis during a family holiday in the French Alps
Got it licked: Katie’s Instagram account is full of pictures of the British hopeful enjoying holidays away with her boyfriend and training at various ski resorts around the world
Katie’s boyfriend, a snowboarding coach, posted this Instagram picture to wish her a happy birthday
She told MailOnline: ‘I’m loving it. Today was my first day training on the Olympic slope-style course – it’s amazing. The jumps are all so perfect.
‘The [Phoenix snow park slope-style course] is one of the most interesting courses I’ve seen.
‘The rails also are the most interesting that we’ve had in a while in competitions. They are really big and a lot of options so it’s a really fun course to ride.
‘In the jumps, you’ve got two normal set of jumps and then the first set are like skew take-offs – jumps on an angle – which you don’t get to see much, you don’t get in other competitions so that’s really unique.’
Wrapped up in six layers the young star was among five TeamGB snowboarders who drew whoops of delight from spectators watching their first practice runs in the bright Korean sunshine.
Katie was just 15 when she burst onto the scene – becoming the youngest girl to land a double backflip, following this up a year later by pulling off a back-side, double-corkscrew 1080 – both truly spectacular acrobatic feats.
Born and raised in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, she was three years old when she first took to skis during a family holiday in the French Alps.
She switched to snowboarding two years later at her local dry ski slope in Halifax, desperate to keep with her older cousin Jamie Nicholls – who is also competing at the Games.
People dressed like snowmen seen in the Olympic village of Pyeongchang two days before the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games
North Korean cheering squads arrive at the Inje Speedium Hotel in Inje North Korea as they get ready for the Games
However her good looks and bubbly personality has marked out in this tough sport.
For 18 months she has been going out with New Zealand snowboard coach Lachie Good, 21, according to his Facebook page.
‘People wouldn’t think I’d be a snowboarder,’ she said. ‘People have told me that because I’m really girly but it’s nothing to do with it.
‘My dad always said I’d be an Olympic athlete because when I was one-year-old I jumped out of a really big cardboard box.
‘I started when I was five before I knew about the culture – I did it because I love it. It proves you can be girly and still do an extreme sport.’
Katie narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago she appears determined to make her mark in Pyeongchang.
She said: ‘Because I missed out on Sochi, I’ve been focusing everything on going to Pyeongchang and I feel like in the best position possible to bring back a medal.’
Katie’s discipline is one of the first in which British athletes have a realistic chance of winning a medal.
TeamGB also hope to reach the podium in speed-skating, snowboarding, curling and free-style skiing, alpine skiing, bobsleigh and skeleton with defending champion Lizzie Yarnold defending her Olympic gold.
The games has been beset with hiccups before they begin. Bitter winds and freezing -10C temperatures have raised fears the Opening Ceremony will too cold for spectators. Soldiers are pictured clearing snow and ice from the seating area at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
The brutally cold conditions in Pyeongchang are warping skis and forcing some athletes to toss them out after training runs, an Alpine skiing course worker has
Spectators will be handed six heating items at the ceremony including a rain coat, a small blanket, a winter cap, heating packs for hands and feet and a heating pad that visitors can sit on
They hope to surpass their best ever Winter Games result of four medals at Sochi, setting a target of five podium places.
Not even breaking her back – only a minor fracture in March last year – stopped Katie reaching Pyeongchang.
‘I didn’t let anything stop me coming to the Olympics,’ she said.
With very little natural snow Olympic organisers have had their snow cannons working overtime to pack down a deep layer of fake snow across the slopes.
But Katie says she is more than comfortable to compete on artificial snow – as she grew up riding on this kind of white stuff.
She told MailOnline: ‘I’m ok with the fake snow because I grew up with it, riding in snow domes, because that was all artificial snow as well.
‘It doesn’t feel that different. And to be honest it feels like a normal mountain, it doesn’t feel that bad.’
A soldier takes a break from shoveling snow and ice from the seating area at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre today ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea
Korean soldiers clear ice from the stands at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. There are fears spectators will not be able to cope with the cold
She added: ‘The snow conditions are really good. They have groomed the slopes really well. There’s no bumps, there’s not much ice, so it’s really nice to ride.’
However the young Briton has taken special measures to cope with the freezing conditions – plummeting to minus 20 Celsius at sunrise.
‘It is really cold,’ Katie told MailOnline. ‘But I’ve got about five or six layers on. I’m riding with hand-warmers and stuff like that. So as long as you’ve got most of your body covered you should be fine.
‘I like to do a big warm up before I got out and train so that all of my muscles are nice and loose. You just don’t want to stiffen up and try to move as much as you can.
‘But I am kind of used to the cold because some of World Cup events last season were minus 30 Celsius and minus 45 including the wind-chill factor and that was brutal.
‘So this is cold but nowhere near as cold as I’ve experienced.’
The snowboarder appears relaxed ahead of the 2018 Olympic competition.
Katie told MailOnline: ‘After training like this, I’ll probably go and chill [out], maybe go and spin my legs out on a bike and do a big stretch. Try not to do too much. Watch some Netflix or something.’
She added: ‘I was really lucky because I skipped the jet-lag. So I’m waking up fine and feeling fresh every day which is really good.
‘I’m talking to my family back home every day as well.’
Katie was practicing at the Phoenix Snow Park with Billy Morgan, Aimee Fuller, Rowan Coultas and Matt McCormick.
Winter Olympics 2018: The key events in Pyeongchang
Nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 nations, more than 100 gold medals up for grabs and the prospect of a unified Korean ice hockey team.
The eyes of the world will be on Pyeongchang on Friday as South Korea’s Winter Olympics finally gets underway.
Here are some of the key events and when to tune in and watch them (times in GMT):
Preliminary rounds: February 8, from 2am
While the Games officially kicks off on Friday, the sporting action actually starts a day before, with mixed curling and the qualification round for the men’s individual normal hill ski jumping.
Opening Ceremony: February 9, from 10.30am
The two-hour showpiece is expected to kick start the coldest Games since Lillehammer in 1994 with temperatures dropping to -10C with wind chill.
Spectators will be handed warm clothing while Pyeongchang’s $78million roofless stadium – temporarily built for the opening and closing ceremonies – has been fitted with 40 huge heaters as well as wind shields amid growing concerns over the health of the 35,000 fans and athletes attending.
The two-hour showpiece is expected to kick start the coldest Games since Lillehammer in 1994 with temperatures dropping to -10C with wind chill
Television viewers may catch site of this group of North Korean cheerleaders, sent to the South by Kim Jong-un to support North Korea’s small selection of competitors
Some 35,000 will watch on as athletes competing at the games march into the ‘Parade of Nations’.
The extravaganza will then celebrate Korean culture, pop music, and history while enemies North and South Korea will parade under one flag to signify the theme of the Games – peace.
Men’s downhill: February 11, from 2am
One of the showpiece events of the Games, with favourites including Beat Feuz of Switzerland, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Max Franz of Austria.
North and South unify for ‘Korea’ ice hockey team: February 12, 12.10pm
Female hockey players from both North Korea and South Korea make history by joining forces. At 9.10pm local time they will take on Sweden in their opening fixture.
Female hockey players from both North Korea and South Korea make history by joining forces. At 9.10pm local time they will take on Sweden in their opening fixture.
One of the Games’ biggest stars, legendary US snowboarder Shaun White (pictured) – dubbed the Flying Tomato – expected to compete in the men’s halfpipe finals
Halfpipe final: February 14, from 1.30am
One of the Games’ biggest stars, legendary US snowboarder Shaun White – dubbed the Flying Tomato – expected to compete in the men’s halfpipe finals.
Women’s curling: From February 14, coverage starting at 5am
Britain led by Eve Muirhead has strong medal hopes in curling with the competition running throughout the Games
Ice dancing: February 19, from 3.30am
Always a popular event at the Winter Olympics, the ice dancing will take place at Gangneung Ice Arena. British medal hopes rest on Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland who have been helped by Olympic legends Torvill and Dean.
Always a popular event at the Winter Olympics, the ice dancing will take place at Gangneung Ice Arena. British medal hopes rest on Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland (pictured) who have been helped by Olympic legends Torvill and Dean
Women’s Skeleton final: February 17, from 11am
Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold is back to defend her gold medal from Sochi 2014.
Big Air snowboarding: February 19
Katie Ormerod, 20, leads British hopes in the spectacular Big Air contest, new to the Olympics, as well as slopestyle which takes place on February 11 at 4.30am. can follow in her tracks.
Katie Ormerod (pictured), 20, leads British hopes in the spectacular Big Air contest, new to the Olympics, as well as slopestyle which takes place on February 11 at 4.30am. can follow in her tracks
Closing Ceremony: February 25, from 11am to 1pm
Ivanka Trump is reportedly set to be among the spectators as the games comes to an end. The party is expected to be another tribute to South Korean culture. The Olympic torch will be handed over to the 2020 Summer Olympics host Tokyo.