Gangwon 2024 Update: 16-Year-Old Makes History for Great Britain With Gold at Winter Youth Olympics

It was a fairytale ending to yesterday’s Super G race at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics. Hours before achieving history for Great Britain, a 16-year-old alpine skier started on a poor note finishing 27th in the morning’s slalom run. Almost 2 seconds behind the halfway leader, the British skier thought it was ‘impossible‘ to close down the gap in the second run, let alone finish at the top. But soon he did the ‘impossible‘.

Hailing from an accomplished athletic family, Zak Carrick-Smith managed to write history, winning Great Britain’s first Alpine Skiing Gold Medal at the Winter Olympic Games. He would later double down to clinch the combined alpine gold.

Great Britain gets its first Winter Youth Olympic gold

In the latest update on X, IOC Media announced a historical moment for Great Britain as Carrick-Smith won the nation’s first-ever Skiing Gold Medal at the Winter Youth Olympics. “16-year-old Zak Carrick-Smith has won Great-Britain’s first ever skiing medal at a Winter Olympic event – gold in the Men’s Combined Slalom at the Winter Youth Olympic Games #Gangwon2024“, the caption read. It also marked the country’s 7th Winter Youth Olympic medal, 3rd Gold, at the Winter Olympics.

Despite the setback in the morning, Carrick-Smith delivered a sensational run in the afternoon’s slalom. He climbed an astonishing 26 places, clocking 1:49:46 in aggregate. The teenager won by a margin of 0.13 seconds as Swish skiers Alexander Ax Swartz and Liam Liljenborg followed in 2nd and 3rd positions. While Carrick-Smith is one for the future, her mom is a four-time Olympian, and he is surely on the same path of bigger Olympic glory.

Carrick-Smith’s athletic family

Carrick-Smith’s mom Emma Carrick-Anderson was hoping for a top-10 finish for her son but it was to be an even bigger accomplishment. Emma participated in four Olympic Games as a British alpine skier from 1992 to 2002. While she didn’t win any race, seeing her son secure historical gold for Britain would undoubtedly be a proud moment for Emma.

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Emma’s elder son, Luca,18, is a two-time British alpine skiing Junior Champion and will be competing in the Junior World Championships taking place in France while Carrick-Smith’s twin Freddie is an equally enthusiastic skier. After this remarkable achievement, Carrick-Smith will be eying next year’s Alpine Skiing World Cup.

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