Murray Buchan

Buchan was born on 2 December 1991 in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[2] His father was a member of the Glenshee Ski Centre mountain rescue team.^[3]

Buchan began skiing at an Edinburgh dry skiing slope at age 8, encouraged by his parents; he wanted to follow his father and be part of a mountain rescue team.^[3] Buchan began to improve, progressing to local competitions, sponsored by ski shops.^[3] He began winning his age group at tournaments, and at the age of 14 performed at his first British Skiing Championships, at which he won four events in his age group.^[3] In 2008, he won his first British Skiing Championships in the halfpipe discipline, which led to his competing at World Cup skiing events, though mainly in Europe due to finances.^[3] He was forced out of the majority of the 2009 season after dislocating his elbow.^[3] At the start of January 2014, Buchan finished 13th, his best-ever result in a World Cup, at Calgary.^[4] In the winter, Buchan trains in Breckenridge, Colorado.^[3][5]

Buchan's Olympic debut was at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, which was the first time the halfpipe had been included in a Winter Olympics.^[3] Going into the games, Buchan was the British Olympic champion in the halfpipe.^[6] He competed in the qualifiers on 18 February 2014^[6] in the freestyle skiing event halfpipe, and finished 17th,^[7] having targeted 18 or above in the run up to the games.^[4]