Another member of the Sadowski-Synnott family has struck gold after Zoi Sadowski-Synnott’s dad Sean went viral on social media for a sweary live television interview in New Zealand, in the wake of her winning the nation’s first ever Winter Olympics gold medal.
“I’m pretty fucking excited,” he said, after being asked how proud he was of his daughter. Earlier in the clip he had described the reaction of Sadowski-Synnott’s younger sister Illy as “fucking crazy. She went off the roof.”
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott’s dad is having a sick one pic.twitter.com/z1oczIoi3D
— the_emancipation_of_miri (@e_maur1) February 6, 2022
Asked about her father’s excitement at her victory in the women’s snowboard slopestyle final on Sunday, Sadowski-Synnott told reporters on Monday in Beijing: “Yeah, I think really that he had a few too many drinks at that point, but you can’t really blame him, it was Waitangi Day in New Zealand and his daughter just won the Olympics so …!”
She added: “The last 24 hours has been a whirlwind, super-stoked to be standing here with gold around my neck.”
There's no better feeling than getting a win and celebrating with the whole squad. If you're New Zealand and you just won your first ever Winter Olympic gold medal thanks to Zoi Sadowski-Synnott... you do a haka!#thegist #beijing2022 (c/o @SnowboardMag ) pic.twitter.com/CyYB1L7oOZ
— The GIST USA (@thegistusa) February 7, 2022
Her historic win has been warmly received in New Zealand, with the prime minister Jacinda Arden sending a congratulatory message as well. “Honestly the reaction has been absolutely insane, I haven’t been able to keep up with all the support and love that I’ve got and then I got a shoutout from Jacinda,” said the 20-year-old.
Sadowski-Synnott’s father has been a continuing source of amusement in his reaction, having told the website Stuff that, in her bid for gold, his daughter made many sacrifices. “Zoi sacrificed doing the dishes, mowing the lawns, cleaning her room and getting the vacuum out, she sacrificed all of those things,” he said.
Coach Sean Thomson said of Sean Sadowski-Synnott’s TV interview: “He’s amazing, it just was so cool to see the emotion coming out of him in that clip. We loved it and we loved all the support from back home with friends and family. It’s just really special what Zoi has done here, and to see everyone react the way they have been doing is just something else.”
Sadowski-Synnott will go for Olympic gold again in the big air event. The qualification rounds start on 14 February.
Reuters contributed to this report
