Sadowski-Synnott wins first Winter Olympics gold for New Zealand

CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- FIS first seed Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won the first Winter Olympics gold medal for New Zealand with 92.88 points in the women's snowboard slopestyle final at Beijing 2022 on Sunday.

Julia Marino from the United States won the silver medal and Australian Tess Coady came the third.

Sadowski-Synnott notched 84.51 points in the first run. No participant surpassed her until Marino managed to finish a frontside double cork 1080 in her last trick of the second run to win her a total score of 87.68.

Facing pressure from Marino, Sadowski-Synnott failed to refresh the ranking table after slipping in the second run. However, the 20-year-old ultimately demonstrated her prowess again by successfully performing a frontside double cork 1080 melon and a backside 1080 weddle grab to lock her win.

Marino and Coady hugged the champion with excitement after hearing the final result to express their congratulations.

"I am super proud of where my snowboarding has come in the last few years and super proud to be Kiwi and show the world what Kiwis are made of," said Sadowski-Synnott, hoping her performance at the Winter Olympics will inspire young kids to take up snowboarding.

Though being knocked off the podium by the gold medalist's last jump, Marino still expressed her admiration to her opponent.

"Zoi (Sadowski-Synnott) is an inspiration for all of us. She is the best rider right now and she's making us all push our levels. She's a great person and a great rider. I love to share the podium with her."

As the current leader in world rankings, Sadowski-Synnott has won two gold (2019 and 2021 slopestyle), and two silver medals (2017 slopestyle, 2021 big air) from three World Championships.