'I LOVE THE CHALLENGE OF BEING BETTER THAN YESTERDAY'

Double Winter Olympian, Aimee Fuller, talks to us about breaking barriers to succeed as both a pro snowboarder and game-changing TV broadcaster, plus the transformative power of exercise

- Joanna Ebsworth

Resilience, adaptability and confidence are just some of the qualities that Team GB double Winter Olympian Aimee Fuller has in abundance. It’s these same core qualities that have helped the former pro snowboarder carve out an equally successful second career in broadcasting. As the first woman in history to land a double backflip in competition back in 2013, Fuller has continued to turn the rulebook on its head by spearheading new and exciting ways of presenting. This is true, whether she’s getting her guests out of the studio and taking them for a stroll to spill their motivational secrets, on her popular Monday Mile podcast, or giving the term ‘roving reporter’ an inspiring spin on the BBC’s coverage of the Great North Run by running the full 13.1 miles, all the while interviewing fellow participants live and somehow remembering to breathe.

Considering that Fuller tells us she has been ‘told no’ many times during both her careers, her impressive CV is testament to her determination to break down the various barriers that have blocked her chosen path over the years (there isn’t a lot of opportunity in the UK for snowboarding, for one thing). Yet, it’s her ability to turn each failure or disappointment into an opportunity for growth that has helped her transform every ‘no’ into a ‘yes’.

Growing up in Kent, Fuller started skiing on a dry ski slope and riding a quad bike at the age of four, but it soon turned out that both modes of movement were far too slow for the young adrenaline junkie. After upgrading her quad bike to a 50cc motorbike at the age of six and taking up motocross until she was eight years old, Fuller admits she soon got a bit bored of the repetitiveness of skiing. However, that feeling quickly changed when, she saw a snowboarder in action for the first time.