BRIGHOUSE snowboarder Katie Ormerod may have had a bit of a false start in Switzerland last week, but she started the season with a bang in Austria earlier this month.

The 23-year-old was due to compete in the slopestyle contest at the Laax Open, but picked up a slight shoulder injury ahead of last Wednesday's semi-finals, and decided to pull out.

But she came eighth in a big air World Cup event in Kreischberg a few weeks ago, a result she was delighted with, especially given it counts towards qualification for next year's Beijing Winter Olympics.

Discussing her start to the year, Ormerod said: "I took a slight knock to my shoulder ahead of the semis last week, so decided not to compete.

"I was only able to restart training in October because of the pandemic, but luckily that's been really good, just having time to practice up in the mountains.

"This last year has been a bit of a one-off, but that big air World Cup competition in Kreischberg was the first one of the season and I finished eighth.

"It was an Olympic qualifier, as all of the slopestyle and big air World Cup events are this season and next, so it was a good result for me."

But Ormerod admitted they are having to play the upcoming schedule by ear at this stage, saying: "My shoulder isn't a problem now, but I'll have to see what's next in terms of competitions, as no-one is sure of the rest of the World Cup schedule at the moment.

"I'm just concentrating on my training for now and getting ready for the Olympics, which are still set to go ahead for us (this summer's Games in Tokyo are in doubt for a second year running).

"Last year, I won the Slopestyle World Cup and was up on the podium for every one of the events in that, so I did well on that front.

"Right now, though we've had this long break, I feel like I'm keeping focused and I'm on track with where I want to be."

Winning a World Cup will undoubtedly raise your profile, and Ormerod had the honour of appearing on flagship BBC programme A Question of Sport last June.

Speaking about the experience, she enthused: "It was amazing to be on A Question of Sport, I loved it.

"It's a programme I've always wanted to go on. It was a lot of fun and I was on the winning team too.

"The whole thing was just a really cool experience."

Asked if she'd hoped her appearance had helped put snowboarding in the spotlight, she said: "Snowboarding's not in the mainstream like a lot of of British sports.

"So it was really good to hopefully go some way towards putting it on the British map.

"Just because we don't have places like the Alps in the UK, you can still be successful with hard work and passion.

"When I was younger, I was just practicing on the dry slope in Halifax and now I've won a World Cup.

"With hard work anything's possible, and I hope others in the UK see what I've done and believe they can do it themselves."