The list of Great British gold medal winners at Winter Olympics is not the longest but 17-year-old Aimee Fuller will be hoping she can put her name on it in the future.
The Keston-born snowboarder moved out to America when she was 12-years-old and, since becoming interested in extreme sports, she has taken the European junior snowboarding circuit by storm.
After finishing fifth in the Burton European Open and second in the World Rookie Fest finals, Fuller is now second in the world junior rankings.
She said: “I got into snowboarding through my cousins. I was on a family holiday visiting them, thought it looked cool and gave it a go. I moved to the US when I was 12 and got into it then.
“I love the rush you get from learning new tricks. It’s also an opportunity to travel the world, once I finish school I want to concentrate on learning more and taking it to a higher level,” Fuller, who has been part of the Great Britain team for two years, added.
Fuller is now based in Northern Ireland, a country which is not blessed with inches worth of snow, so she needs even more dedication to make it in European competition.
She explained: “I only get to train when I go away with the Great Britan team and my sponsors Roxy and Vans. There is very little snowfall in Northern Ireland and one dryslope, which has few freestyle facilities.”
Fuller perfects her tricks on a trampoline in her back garden and adds: “I do a lot of dryland training at home to keep fit for when I am away.”
Her experience on the American circuits is likely to stand her in good stead for the future and she said: “I used to ride at a small mountain in Pennsylvania with friends from school, which had seven slopes and most of the snow was man-made.
“The jumps were pretty small but there was a great variety of rails. On the West coast it is different, with all different types of terrain and a lot more snowfall,” Fuller added.
The youngster’s crowning achievement so far is winning the British Junior Championships Slopestyle and Halfpipe earlier this year and aims to become one of the top five riders in the world and to compete in the X Games.
With so much accomplished at such an early stage of her career, few would bet against her going even further.
