Poised to create more Winter Olympic history - and show the world a new trick - Kiwi snow queen Zoi Sadowski-Synnott already has kids at home flipping over her success.
As Zoi Sadowski-Synnott calmly dominated the Big Air Shougang ski ramp in Beijing on Monday afternoon, a band of kids were learning their first tricks above the giant air bag on her home mountain of Cardrona.
Regardless of whether the 20-year-old lives up to her favourite status today and grabs her second gold medal at these Winter Olympics, “the Zoi effect” has already begun back home in New Zealand.
Every day of these Winter Olympics, kids from local primary schools in Central Otago have been given a taste of an Olympic experience – meeting a Winter Olympian of the past, then trying flips onto the landing bag where Sadowski-Synnott perfected her scoreboard-topping double cork 1080s.
Yesterday it was the turn of Erika Harris, who skied for New Zealand at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, to talk to kids from Alexandra and Hawea.
“As a Winter Olympian, it’s so cool to see more awareness around snow sport,” says Harris, now chair of the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team. “You have to take these opportunities with something as amazing as the Olympics – and our first Olympic gold - to make kids aware and engaged.”
But for the next generation to hit New Zealand's slopes and replicate Sadowski-Synnott's unprecedented success, the push will need to continue well after the Beijing snow melts.
“Young girls will need to be reminded of it, and I hope Zoi will share her experiences with them to keep this moment alive," says Harris, whose three children are all up-and-coming skiers.
“They need to see it's not only the opportunity to stand on top of the podium wearing a gold medal. It’s the camaraderie and the friends you make, the chance to travel the world, and the enjoyment and fun of being on the snow."
That's all been evident in the way Sadowski-Synnott and her competitors have reacted at these Games - hugging, cheering, piling on top of each other.
“With snowboarding, you kind of know what everyone’s tricks are and you’re stoked when they land cause you know how hard that they work at every single of one of those tricks," Sadowski-Synnott explained after topping her big air qualifying yesterday. "We’re all just stoked to be here and watching everyone else do some of the best tricks of their lives.”
But maybe they don't know everyone's tricks. Our first Winter Olympic gold medallist hinted she may have a special trick up her sleeve for today's final.
"I've got a trick I've been working on, and I hope to put it down [today] and just snowboard at my best and see where that gets me," she said.
As she did in her slopestyle final a week ago, Sadowski-Synnott saved her best trick till last in the qualifiers. She sat at the top of the ladder after her first of three runs, with her backside 1080 scoring 85.50, with Japan’s Kokomo Murase hot on her heels. Competitors needed to land two clean runs in order to finish in the top 12 to make the final.
The Kiwi decided to play it safer on her second, with a “very mellow jump”, which meant she could go all-out on her final run.
Her front-side double cork 1080 scored 91.00 - the highest of the day - and Sadowski-Synnott leapt back into first with a total of 176.50. Murase went through in second, five points behind her.
That gives Sadowski-Synnott - who won big air Olympic bronze four years ago - the advantage of being the last to drop in today, knowing what she needs to do to top the podium again come 4pm.
Over at the freeski slopestyle, Margaux Hackett was "pretty bummed" at failing to make the final for a second time in Beijing.
She began her first run with confidence, the only competitor in the field of 27 to use both rails at the start of the course.
Scoring 54.93, Hackett looked pleased with her first run, waving her nails painted in the colours of her two home nations - New Zealand and France.
The 22-year-old sat in 13th after the first run, less than a point away from the top 12 who'd go through to today's final, and knew she'd to have a better second run to make the cut.
She had a solid start, again using both rails after dropping in and was clean throughout the course. Knowing she needed to pull off a big trick at the end, Hackett went for a "massive" switch, 900 but fell awkwardly on the landing, effectively ending her chances of making the final (she finished up 16th).
"I was pretty stoked with the rest of my run and then I guess it all came down to the last jump, had a bit too much juice and went too big unfortunately," she told Sky Sport. "I really thought I had it.
"My goal was to make finals and show a bit more of my skiing. I think it's given me more motivation to come back [in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics] next time."
Images of the day
The good news
After spectacularly crashing out of the Super G four days ago, Alice Robinson will today line up in her third event of these Olympics - the downhill. Even though it's an event she's only raced three times in her career.
"I just want to enjoy it and get some experience," says New Zealand flagbearer Robinson, who was also disappointed with her 22nd placing in the giant slalom earlier last week. "I'm here so I might as well do it."
Sadowski-Synnott will make history yet again if she lands on the podium after the big air final. The first Kiwi to win multiple Winter Olympic medals, she could also be the first and only to win two medals at the same Games, and also be the proud owner of 60 percent of New Zealand’s total Winter Olympic medal haul.
And after early complaints from some athletes about the quality of the food in their Beijing bubbles, the press corps have come to the rescue. American snowboarder Chloe Kim was starving at a press conference after comfortably topping qualifying for the snowboard halfpipe final, so attending journalists reached into their bags to ease Kim’s hunger pains; the young athlete collecting enough to share with fellow competitors.
The not-so-good news
Cool Wakushima’s first Olympic campaign has been cut cruelly short. Pulling out of the slopestyle after her first run when she aggravated an injury suffered in training, the 19-year-old Kiwi snowboarder decided to turn her focus to the big air. Unfortunately, Wakushima hadn't recovered fully from the tailbone injury and had to opt out of the big air as well. Despite the setback, the Queenstown athlete still has a promising career in snow sports ahead.
Other snow news
Kiwi Jess Hotter has leapt to the top of the women's ski rankings on the Freeride World Tour after finishing second in the third stop in Canada's Kicking Horse. With a typically hard-charging run, the 28-year-old freeride skier from Ohakune is comfortably through to the tour finals.
Who’s up next
Aotearoa’s golden girl will compete in the big air final (the event in which she won bronze four years ago) at 2.30pm. Sadowski-Synnott will have three runs, with her top two scores combining towards a medal.
Alice Robinson will prove just how tough she is, as a late entry in the alpine skiing downhill event at 4pm today. Her do-or-die attitude saw her crash in the Super G: “I wanted to be on the podium or I was going to be in the fence.” Expect to see another fierce outing from the 20-year-old in her third event in Beijing.
Poor weather and low light has forced postponements to some events, including Finn Bilous and Ben Barclay’s freeski slopestyle qualification, which will now start at 5.30pm this evening.
