A University of Aberdeen student has hit the slopes to compete against the world's leading student athletes at the 2023 World University Games.
Medical student, Olivia Burke, represented Team GB and the University at the Games in January, which saw almost 2,000 students from 50 countries compete.
The event, which took place this year in Lake Placid, USA, is widely recognised as the second largest multisport Games in the world after the Olympics.
Olivia has been skiing since she was three years old and began attending race training aged 10. When she was 15, she made the decision to stop racing and fully concentrate on freestyle skiing.
She competed in two freestyle ski disciplines at the Games: big air and slopestyle. After two days of training, Olivia made it through qualifiers to take part in four days of back-to-back competitions.
And in the end, she placed fifth in the big air event and fourth in the slopestyle.
Olivia said: “I have had amazing support from the University’s Development Trust Sports Bursary scheme with financial help to make it possible to get to the Games, as well as providing me with weekly Strength and Conditioning sessions led by the Sport and Exercise Team.
“The University has also supported me by allowing me academic flexibility which has helped me stay on track with my studies. It has been a dream of mine to compete at the Games since I first learned of the event.
“As well as the experience I gained from the Games, it now gives me enough Federation (FIS) points to compete in other international events in Europe. My plan is to capitalise on that this year, while working hard to keep up with my studies.
“My next plan is to compete in mid-March at a Europa cup in Italy and continue to get out to the mountains as much as I can to train and compete.”