KATIE Ormerod bounced back nicely in her first World Cup competition after her Winter Olympic disappointment, finishing eighth in the Czech Republic.

For the 24-year-old Brighouse snowboarder, her real achievement was just getting out to the Games in Beijing last month.

She had been due to compete as a 20-year-old out in Pyeongchang in 2018, but a freak heel injury on the eve of the Games almost ended her career before it had really got going.

But after a gruelling year of rehab, she came back in spectacular fashion, and was crowned World Cup Slopestyle Champion at the start of 2020.

Speaking to the T&A ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Ormerod had said: “Just qualifying for the Olympics was a feat in itself, so if I make it to the finals of either event, that’s a bonus, and if I get a podium, that’s an even bigger bonus.”

Even so, an 18th placed finish in slopestyle qualifying and 25th in Big Air, with the latter seeing her fall twice in three jumps, would have come as a natural disappointment.

She missed out on the finals of both of those events in Beijing, but made no mistake in Spindleruv Mlyn, which is a ski resort town in the north of the Czech Republic.

She came seventh in slopestyle qualification on Friday, booking her spot in Saturday's final.

And it was there that she finished in eighth place, earning herself 138.30 International Ski Federation points and 32.00 World Cup points.

Her previous Slopestyle World Cup finishes in the 2022 season were 23rd in Canada, fourth in the USA, and 11th in Switzerland.